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HIDDEN  PATH.  "         150 

MOSS    SIDE.          "         1  50 

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MIRIAM.  "         1  50 

HUSKS.  "  1  50 


HUSKS. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS, 


BY 

MARION    HARLAND. 


"He  would  fain  have  filled  himself  with  the  husks  that  the  swine  did  eat;  and  no 
man  gave  unco  him." 


NEW  YORK: 

SHELDON  &  COMPANY,  335  BROADWAY. 
1863. 


v 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863, 
BY  SHELDON  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


•* 


HUSKS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

IT  was  a  decided  uncompromising  rainy  day.  There 
were  no  showers,  coquetted  with  by  veering  winds  or 
dubious  mists,  that  at  times  grew  brighter,  as  if  the  sun 
were  burning  away  their  lining ;  but  a  uniform  expanse  of 
iron-gray  clouds — kept  in  close,  grim  column  by  a  steady, 
although  not  violent  east  wind — sent  straight  lines  of  heavy 
rain  upon  the  earth.  The  naked  trees,  that,  during  the 
earlier  hours  of  the  deluge  had  seemed  to  shiver  for  the 
immature  leaf-buds,  so  unfit  to  endure  the  rough  handling 
of  the  storm,  now  held  out  still,  patient  arms,  the  rising  sap 
curdled  within  their  hearts.  The  gutters  were  brimming 
streams,  and  the  sidewalks  were  glazed  with  thin  sheets  of 
water. 

The  block  of  buildings  before  which  our  story  pauses, 
was,  as  a  glance  would  have  showed  the  initiated  in  the 
grades  of  Gotham  life,  highly  respectable,  even  in  the  rain. 
On  a  clear  day  when  the  half-folded  blinds  revealed  the 
lace,  silken,  and  damask  draperies  within;  when  young 
misses  and  masters — galvanized  show-blocks  of  purple  and 
fine  linen,  that  would  have  passed  muster  behind  the  plate- 
glass  of  Genin  or  Madame  Demorest— ^tripped  after  hoops, 
or  promenaded  the  smooth  pavement ;  when  pretty,  jaunty 
one-horse  carriages,  and  more  pretentious  equipages,  each 
with  a  pair  of  prancing  steeds,  and  two  "outside  pas- 


8  :  ii  u  s  K  s . 

eengers"  >in  broadcloth  artel  tinsel  hat-bands,  received  and 
discharged  their  loads  before  the  brown-stone  fronts — had 
the  afore-mentioned  spectator  chanced  to  perambulate  this 
not  spacious  street,  he  would  have  conceded  to  it  some 
degree  of  the  fashion  claimed  for  it  by  its  inhabitants. 
There  were  larger  houses  and  wider  pavements  to  be  had 
for  the  same  price  a  few  blocks  further  on,  in  more  than  one 
direction,  but  these  were  unanimously  voted  "  less  eligible" 
and  "  deficient  in  style,"  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  as  good 
and  better  materials  were  employed  in  their  construction, 
and  they  were  in  all  respects  equal  in  external  show  and 
inside  finish  to  those  in  this  model  quarter.  "  But  our 
block  has  a  certain  air — well — I  don't  know  what ;  but  it 
is  just  the  thing,  you  know,  and  so  convenient!  So  near 
the  Avenue !"  would  be  the  concluding  argument. 

The  nameless,  indescribable  charm  of  the  locality  lay  in 
the  last  clause.  "  Just  step  around  the  corner  and  you  are 
in  the  Avenue,"  said  the  favored  dwellers  in  this  vicinity, 
as  the  climax  in  the  description  of  their  abode,  and  "  that 
way  fashion  lies"  to  every  right-minded  New  Yorker  of  the 
feminine  gender. 

But  the  aristocratic  quiet  of  the  neighborhood,  rendered 
oppressive  and  depressing  by  the  gloom  of  the  day,  was 
disturbed  by  a  discordant  sound — a  child's  cry ;  and  what 
was  especially  martyrizing  to  refined  auriculars,  the  lament 
had  the  unmistakable  plebeian  accent.  The  passionate 
scream  with  which  the  pampered  darling  of  the  nursery 
resents  interference  with  his  rights  and  liberty  of  tyranny, 
or  the  angry  remonstrance  of  his  injured  playmates,  would 
have  been  quite  another  species  of  natural  eloquence,  as 
regards  both  quality  and  force,  from  the  weak,  broken  wail 
ihat  sobbed  along  the  wet  streets.  Moreover,  what  re 
spectable  child  could  be  abroad  on  foot  in  this  weather  ? 
So,  the  disrebpectable  juvenile  pursued  her  melancholy  way 


HTJSKS.  9 

unnoticed  and  unquestioned  until  she  reached  the  middle 
of  the  square.  There  a  face  appeared  at  a  window  in  the 
second  story  of  a  house — which  only  differed  from  those  to 
its  right,  left  and  opposite  in  the  number  upon  the  door — 
vanished,  and  in  half  a  minute  more  a  young  lady  appeared 
in  the  sheltered  vestibule. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  little  girl  ?" 

The  tone  was  not  winning,  yet  the  sobs  ceased,  and  the 
child  looked  up,  as  to  a  friendly  questioner.  She  was  about 
eleven  years  of  age,  if  one  had  judged  from  her  size  and 
form  ;  but  her  features  were  pinched  into  unnatural  maturity. 
Her  attire  was  wretched,  at  its  best  estate;  now,  soaked 
by  the  rain,  the  dingy  hood  drooped  over  her  eyes ;  the 
dark  cotton  shawl  retained  not  one  of  its  original  colors, 
and  the  muddy  dress  napped  and  dripped  about  her  ankles. 
Upon  one  foot  she  wore  an  old  cloth  gaiter,  probably 
picked  up  from  an  ash-heap ;  the  remains  of  a  more  sorry 
slipper  were  tied  around  the  other. 

"  I  am  so  cold  and  wet,  and  my  matches  is  all  sp'ilt !" 
she  answered  in  a  dolorous  tone,  lifting  the  corner  of  a 
scrap  of  oil-cloth,  which  covered  a  basket,  tucked  for  further 
security,  under  her  shawl. 

"  No  wonder !  What  else  could  you  expect,  if  you 
would  go  out  to  sell  them  on  a  day  like  this  ?  Go  down 
into  the  area,  there,  and  wait  until  I  let  you  in." 

The  precaution  was  a  wise  one.  No  servant  in  that  well- 
regulated  household  would  have  admitted  so  questionable  a 
figure  as  that  which  crept  after  their  young  mistress  into 
the  comfortable  kitchen.  The  cook  paused  in  the  act  of 
dissecting  a  chicken;  the  butler — on  carriage  days,  the 
footman — checked  his  flirtation  with  the  plump  and  laugh 
ing  chambermaid,  to  stare  at  the  wretched  apparition. 
The  scrutiny  of  the  first  named  functionary  was  speedily 
diverted  to  the  dirty  trail  left  by  the  intruder  upon  the 
1* 


10  HUSKS. 

« 

carpet.  A  scowl  puckered  her  red  face,  and  her  wrathful 
glance  included  both  of  the  visitants  as  alike  guilty  of  this 
desecration  of  her  premises.  The  housemaid  rolled  up  her 
eyes  and  clasped  her  hands  in  dumb  show  of  horror  and 
contempt,  to  her  gallant,  who  replied  with  a  shrug  and  a 
grin.  But  not  a  word  of  remonstrance  or  inquiry  was 
spoken.  It  was  rather  a  habit  of  this  young  lady's  to  have 
her  own  way  whenever  she  could,  and  that  she  was  bent 
upon  doing  this  now  was  clear. 

"  Sit  down  !"  she  said,  bringing  up  a  chair  to  the  fire. 

The  storm-beaten  wanderer  obeyed,  and  eagerly  held  up 
her  sodden  feet  to  the  red  grate. 

"  Have  you  no  better  shoes  than  those  ?" 

"  No,  ma'am." 

"  Humph  !     Nor  dress — nor  shawl  ?" 

"  No,  ma'am." 

"  Are  you  hungry  ?" 

A  ray  shot  from  the  swollen  eyes.     "  Yes,  ma'am  !" 

The  lady  disappeared  in  the  pantry  and  presently  re 
turned  with  five  or  six  slices  of  bread  and  butter  hastily  cut 
and  thickly  spread,  with  cheese  and  cold  meat  between 
them. 

"  Eat !"  She  thrust  them  into  the  match-girl's  fingers. 
"  Wait  here,  while  I  go  and  look  for  some  clothes  for  you." 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  insulted  oracle  of  kitchen  mys 
teries  improved  the  time  of  the  benefactress's  absence  by  a 
very  plain  expression  of  her  sentiments  towards  beggars  in 
general,  and  this  one  in  particular ;  which  harangue  was 
received  with  applause  by  her  fellow-servants,  and  perfect 
equanimity  by  its  object.  She  munched  her  sandwiches 
with  greedy  satisfaction,  watching,  the  while,  the  little 
clouds  of  steam  that  ascended  from  her  heated  toes.  She 
was,  to  all  appearance,  neither  a  sensitive  nor  intelligent 
child,  and  had  known  too  much  of  animal  want  and  suffer- 


HUSKS.  11 

ing  to  allow  trifles  to  spoil  her  enjoyment  of  whatever 
physical  comfort  fell  to  her  lot.  Her  mother  at  home 
could  scold  quite  as  virulently  as  the  cook  was  now  doing, 
and  she  was  more  afraid  of  her  anger,  because  she  beat 
while  she  berated  her.  She  was  convinced  that  she  stood 
in  no  such  peril  here,  for  her  protectress  was  one  in  power. 

"  Have  you  eaten  enough  ?"  said  the  clear,  abrupt  voice 
behind  her,  as  she  held  two  sandwiches  in  her  fingers, 
without  offering  to  put  them  to  her  lips. 

"  Yes,  ma'am.     May  I  take  'em  home  ?" 

"  Certainly,  if  you  like.  Stand  up,  and  take  off  your 
shawl." 

She  put  around  the  forlorn  figure  a  thick  cloak,  rusty  and 
obsolete  in  fashion,  but  which  was  a  warm  and  ample 
covering  for  the  child,  extending  to  the  hem  of  her  dress. 
The  damp  elf-locks  were  hidden  by  a  knitted  hood  ;  and,  for 
the  feet,  there  were  stockings  and  shoes,  and  a  pair  of 
India-rubbers  to  protect  these  last  from  the  water. 

"  Now,"  said  the  Humane  Society  of  One,  when  the 
refitting  was  at  an  end,  "  where  do  you  live?  Never  mind ! 
I  don't  care  to  know  that  yet!  Here  is  a  small  umbrella — 
a  good  one — which  belongs  to  me.  I  have  no  other  for 
myself  when  I  go  out  in  bad  weather.  I  mean  to  lend  it  to 
you,  to-day,  upon  the  condition  that  you  will  bring  it  back 
to-morrow,  or  the  first  clear  day.  Will  you  do  it  ?" 

The  promise  was  readily  given. 

"Here's  an  old  thing,  Miss  Sarah  !"  ventured  the  butler, 
respectfully;  producing  a  bulky,  ragged  cotton  umbrella 
from  a  corner  of  the  kitchen  closet.  "It's  risky — trusting 
such  as  that  with  your  nice  silk  one." 

"  That  will  let  in  the  rain,  and  is  entirely  too  large  for 
her  to  carry.  You  understand,  child  ?  You  are  to  bring 
this  safely  back  to  me,  the  first  time  the  sun  shines.  Can 
you  find  your  way  to  this  house  again  ?" 


12  HUSKS. 

"  Oh  yes,  ma'am,  easy !     Thank  you,  ma'am !" 

She  dropped  an  awkward  courtesy,  as  Miss  Sarah  held 
open  the  door  for  her  to  pass,  and  went  out  into  the  rain — 
warm,  dry,  and  shielded  against  further  damage  from  the 
storm. 

Unheeding  the  significant  looks  of  the  culinary  cabinet, 
Sarah  Hunt  turned  away  an$.  ascended  the  stairs.  She  was 
a  striking-looking  girl,  although  her  features,  when  in 
repose,  could  claim  neither  beauty  of  form  nor  expression. 
Her  complexion  was  dark  and  pale,  with  a  slight  tinge  of 
olive,  and  her  hair  a  deep  brown,  lips  whose  compression 
was  habitual,  an  aquiline  nose,  and  eyes  that  changed  from 
dreamy  hazel  to  midnight  blackness  at  the  call  of  mind  or 
feeling,  gave  marked  character  to  her  countenance.  Her 
sententious  style  of  address  to  the  child  she  had  just  dis 
missed  was  natural,  and  usual  to  her  in  ordinary  conversa 
tion,  as  was  also  the  gravity,  verging  upon  sombreness,  which 
had  not  once  during  the  interview  relaxed  into  a  smile. 

The  family  sitting-room,  her  destination  at  present,  and 
to  which  we  will  take  the  liberty  of  preceding  her,  was 
furnished  elegantly  and  substantially;  and  there,  leaning 
back  in  lounging-chairs,  were  Miss  Lucy  Hunt,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  household,  and  her  bosom  friend,  Miss 
Victoria  West.  Each  held  and  wielded  a  crochet-needle, 
and  had  upon  her  lap  a  basket  of  many-hued  balls  of  double 
or  single  zephyr  worsted,  or  Shetland  or  Saxony  wool,  or 
whatever  was  the  fashionable  article  for  such  pretty  trifling 
at  that  date.  Miss  West  had  completed  one-quarter  of  a 
shawl  for  herself,  white  and  scarlet;  and  her  friend  had 
made  precisely  the  same  progress  in  the  arduous  manufac 
ture  of  one  whose  centre  was  white  and  its  border  blue. 

"  Yours  will  be  the  prettiest,"  remarked  Lucy  regret 
fully.  "  Blue  never  looks  well  in  worsteds.  Why,  I  can't 
say,  I'm  sure.  It  is  too  bad  that  I  can  wear  so  few  other 


HUSKS.  13 

-colors !  But  I  am  such  a  fright  in  pink,  or  scarlet,  or  any 
shade  of  red !" 

"  As  if  you  could  be  a  fright  in  any  thing !"  returned  her 
companion,  with  seeming  indignation. 

Lucy  smiled,  showing  a  set  of  faultless  teeth  that,  to  a 
stranger's  first  glance,  would  have  appeared  by  far  the  most 
attractive  point  in  her  physiognomy.  If  closer  examination 
discovered  that  her  skin  was  pearly  in  whiteness  and  trans 
parency,  that  her  form  was  exquisite,  with  a  sort  of  volup 
tuous  grace;  her  hands  worthy,  in  shape  and  hue,  to 
become  a  sculptor's  model ;  still,  in  the  cold,  unflattering 
light  of  this  rainy  afternoon,  her  want  of  color,  her  light 
gray  eyes,  her  yellow  hair,  drawn  straight  back  from  the 
broad,  low  brow,  precluded  the  idea  that  she  could  ever, 
with  all  the  accessories  of  artificial  glare,  dress,  and  anima 
tion,  be  more  than  a  merely  pretty  girl.  Miss  West  knew 
better,  and  Lucy  realized  the  power  of  her  own  charms 
with  full  and  complete  complacency.  Secure  in  this  pleas 
ant  self-appreciation,  she  could  afforcP  to  be  careless  as  to 
her  everyday  looks  and  home-people.  She  saw  and  enjoyed 
the  manifest  surprise  of  those  who,  having  seen  her  once  in 
morning  deshabille,  beheld  her  afterwards  in  elaborate 
evening  toilet.  Then  the  abundant  hair,  waved  in  golden 
ripples  about  the  classic  head,  the  most  artfully  simple  of 
tasteful  ornaments — a  camellia,  a  rosebud,  or  a  pearl  hairpin, 
its  sole  adornment;  her  eyes,  large,  full,  and  soft,  were 
blue  instead  of  gray,  while  the  heat  of  the  assembly-room, 
the  excitement  of  the  crowd,  or  the  exultation  of  gratified 
vanity  supplied  the  rounded  cheek  with  rich  bloom,  and 
dewy  vermillion  to  the  lips.  But  nature's  rarest  gift  to  her 
was  her  voice,  a  mellow  contralto,  whose  skilful  modulations 
stole  refreshingly  to  the  sensed  amid  the  sharp  clash  of 
strained  and  higher  tones,  the  castanet-like  jingle  which 
most  American  belles  ring  unmercifully  into  the  ears  of 


14  HUSKS. 

their  auditors.  Lucy  Hunt  was  not  "  a  great  talker,"  still 
less  was  she  profound  or  brilliant  when  she  did  speak ;  yet 
she  invariably  conveyed  the  impression  to  the  mind  of  a 
new  acquaintance  of  a  thoroughly  cultivated  woman,  one 
whose  acquirements  were  far  beyond  her  modest  exhibition 
of  thought  and  sentiment.  The  most  commonplace  phrase 
came  smoothly  and  roundly  from  her  tongue,  and  he  was 
censorious  indeed  who  was  willing  to  lose  the  pleasure 
afforded  by  its  musical  utterance  in  weighing  its  meaning. 
At  school  she  had  never  been  diligent,  except  in  the  study 
of  music,  and  her  pains-taking  in  this  respect  was  rewarded 
by  the  reputation,  justly  earned,  of  being  the  finest  vocalist 
in  her  circle  of  associates.  In  society  she  shone  as  a  rising 
star  of  the  first  magnitude ;  at  home  she  was  happy,  cheer 
ful,  and  indolently  amiable.  Why  should  she  be  otherwise? 
From  her  babyhood  she  had  been  petted  and  admired  by 
her  family,  and  the  world — her  world — was  as  ready  with 
its  meed  of  the  adulation  which  was  her  element. 

There  were,  besides  the  two  sisters  already  introduced  to 
the  reader,  three  other  children  in  the  Hunt  household — a 
couple  of  sturdy  lads,  twelve  and  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
little  Jeannie,  a  delicate  child  of  six,  whom  Lucy  caressed 
with  pet  titles  and  sugar-plumbs  of  flattery,  and  Sarah 
served  in  secret  and  idolatrous  fondness.  This  family  it 
was  Mrs.  Hunt's  care  and  pride  to  rear  and  maintain,  not 
only  in  comfort,  but  apparent  luxury,  upon  the  salary  which 
her  husband  received  as  cashier  of  a  prominent  city  bank, 
an  income  sufficient  to  support  them  in  modest  elegance, 
but  which  few  besides  Mrs.  Hunt  could  have  stretched  to 
cover  the  expenses  of  their  ostensible  style  of  living.  But 
this  notable  manager  had  learned  economy  in  excellent 
schools ;  primarily  as  a  country  girl,  whose  holiday  finery 
was  purchased  with  the  proceeds  of  her  own  butter-making 
and  poultry-yard ;  then  as  the  brisk,  lively  wife  of  the 


HUSKS.  15 

young  clerk,  whose  slender  salary  had,  up  to  the  time  of 
his  marriage,  barely  sufficed  to  pay  for  his  own  board  and 
clothes,  and  whose  only  vested  capital  was  his  pen,  his  good 
character,  and  perfect  knowledge  of  book-keeping.  But  if 
his  help-meet  were  a  clever  housewife,  she  was  likewise  am 
bitious.  With  the  exception  of  the  sum  requisite  for  the 
yearly  payment  of  the  premium  upon  Mr.  Hunt's  life-in 
surance  policy,  their  annual  expenses  devoured  every  cent 
of  their  receipts.  Indeed,  it  was  currently  believed  among 
outsiders  that  they  had  other  resouroes  than  the  cashier's 
wages,  and  Mrs.  Hunt  indirectly  encouraged  the  report 
that  she  held  property  in  her  own  right.  They  lived  "  as 
their  neighbors  did,"  as  "  everybody  in  their  position  in 
society  was  bound  to  do,"  and  "  everybody"  else  was  too 
intent  upon  his  personal  affairs,  too  busy  with  his  private 
train  of  plans  and  operations  to  examine  closely  the  cogs, 
and  levers,  and  boilers  of  the  locomotive  Hunt.  If  it  went 
ahead,  and  kept  upon  the  track  assigned  it,  was  always  "  up 
to  time,"  and  avoided  unpleasant  collisions,  it  was  nobody's 
business  how  the  steam  was  gotten  up. 

Every  human  plant  of  note  has  its  parasite,  and  Miss 
Lucy  Hunt  was  not  without  hers.  There  existed  no  reason 
in  the  outward  circumstances  of  the  two  girls  why  Miss 
Hunt  should  not  court  Miss  West,  rather  than  Miss  West 
toady  Miss  Hunt.  In  a  business — that  is,  a  pecuniary — 
point  of  view,  the  former  appeared  the  more  likely  state  of 
the  case,  inasmuch  as  Victoria's  father  was  a  stock-broker 
of  reputed  wealth,  and  with  a  probable  millionaireship  in 
prospective,  if  his  future  good  fortune  equalled  his  past, 
while  Mr.  Hunt,  as  has  been  stated,  depended  entirely  upon 
a  certain  and  not  an  extravagant  stipend.  But  the  girls 
became  intimate  at  school,  "came  out"  the  same  winter  at 
the  same  party,  where  Lucy  created  a  "  sensation,"  and 
Victoria  would  have  been  overlooked  but  for  the  sentimen- 


16  H  r  s  K  s . 

tal  conn  ection  between  the  debutantes.  Since  then,  although 
the  confidante  would  have  scouted  the  imputation  of  inter 
ested  motives  with  virtuous  indignation  of  wounded  affec 
tion,  she  had  nevertheless  "  made  a  good  thing  of  it,"  as 
her  respected  father  would  have  phrased  it,  by  playing 
hanger-on,  second  fiddle,  and  trumpeter-general  to  the 
belle. 

"  As  if  you  could  be  a  fright  in  any  thing !"  she  had  said 
naturally,  and  perhaps  sincerely. 

Lucy's  smile  was  succeeded  by  a  serious  look.  "  I  am 
sadly  tempted  sometimes !  Those  lovely  peach-blossom 
hats  that  you  and  Sarah  wore  this  past  winter  were  abso 
lute  trials  to  my  sense  of  right !  And  no  longer  ago  than 
Mrs.  Grossman's  party  I  was  guilty  of  the  sin  of  coveting 
the  complexion  that  enabled  Maria  Johnston  to  wear  that 
sweet  rose-colored  silk,  with  the  lace  skirt  looped  with 
rosebuds." 

"  You  envy  Maria  Johnston's  complexion  ?  Why  don't 
you  go  further,  and  fall  in  love  with  her  small  eyes  and  pug 
nose  ?"  inquired  Victoria,  severely  ironical.  "  I  have  heard 
that  people  were  never  contented  with  their  own  gifts,  but 
such  a  case  of  blindness  as  this  has  never  before  come  under 
my  observation." 

"  No,  no  !  I  am  not  quite  so  humble  with  regard  to  my 
personal  appearance  as  you  would  make  out.  Yet" — and 
the  plaintive  voice  might  have  been  the  murmur  of  a  griev 
ing  angel — "  I  think  that  there  are  compensations  in  the  lot 
of  plain  people  that  we  know  nothing  about.  They  escape 
the  censure  and  unkind  remarks  that  uncharitable  and 
envious  women  heap  upon  those  who  happen  to  be  attrac 
tive.  ISTow,  there  is  Sarah,  who  never  cares  a  button  about 
her  looks,  so  long  as  her  hair  is  smooth  and  her  dress  clean 
and  whole.  She  hates  parties,  and  is  glad  of  any  excuse  to 
stay  out  of  the  parlor  when  gentlemen  call.  Give  her  her 


HUSKS.  17 

books  and  that  '  snuggery,'  as  she  calls  it,  of  a  room  up 
stairs,  and  she  is  happier  than  if  she  were  in  the  gayest 
company  in  the  world.  Who  criticises  her  f  Nobody  is 
jealous  of  her  face,  or  manners,  or  conversation.  And  she 
would  not  mind  it  if  they  were." 

"She  has  a  more  independent  nature  than  yours,  my 
dear.  I,  for  one,  am  rejoiced  that  you  two  are  unlike.  I 
could  not  endure  to  lose  my  darling  friend,  and  somehow  I 
never  could  understand  Sarah ;  never  could  get  near  to  her, 
you  know." 

"  I  do  not  wonder  at  that.  It  is  just  so  with  me,  sisters 
though  we  are.  However,  Sarah  means  well,  if  her  manner 
is  blunt  and  sometimes  cold." 

The  entrance  of  the  person  under  discussion  checked  the 
conversation  at  this  point,  and  both  young  ladies  began  to 
count  their  stitches  aloud,  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  the 
foolish  embarrassment  that  ever  overtakes  a  brace  of  gossips 
at  being  thus  interrupted. 

Sarah's  work  lay  on  her  stand  near  the  window,  where 
she  had  thrown  it  when  the  crying  child  attracted  her 
notice,  and  she  resumed  it  now.  It  was  a  dress  for  Jean- 
nie.  It  was  a  rare  occurrence  for  the  second  sister  to 
fashion  any  thing  so  pretty  and  gay  for  her  own  wear. 

"  Have  you  taken  to  fancy-work  at  last  ?"  asked  Victoria, 
seeing  that  the  unmade  skirt  was  stamped  with  a  rich, 
heavy  pattern  for  embroidery. 

"  No !"  Sarah  did  not  affect  her  sister's  friend,  and  did 
not  trouble  herself  to  disguise  her  feelings  towards  her. 

Lucy  explained :  "  she  is  making  it  for  Jeannie.  She 
does  every  thing  for  that  child." 

"  You  are  very  sisterly  and  kind,  I  am  sure,"  Victoria 
continued,  patronizingly.  "You  must  quite  despise  Lucy 
and  myself  for  thinking  of  and  doing  so  much  for  ourselves, 
while  you  are  such  a  pattern  of  self-denial." 


18  HTJSKS. 

A  blaze  shot  up  in  Sarah's  eye ;  then  she  said,  coldly :  "  I 
am  not  self-denying.  Have  I  ever  found  fault  with  you  or 
Lucy  for  doing  as  you  like  ?" 

"  Oh  no,  my  dear !  But  you  take  no  interest  in  what  we 
enjoy.  I  dare  say,  now,  you  would  think  it  a  dull  business 
to  work  day  after  day  for  three  or  four  weeks  together, 
crocheting  a  shawl  which  may  go  out  of  fashion  before  one 
has  a  chance  to  sport  it  at  a  watering-place." 

"I  certainly  should!"  The  curl  of  the  thin  upper  lip 
would  have  answered  for  her  had  she  not  spoken. 

"  And  you  hate  the  very  sight  of  shell-work,  and  cone- 
frames,  and  Grecian  painting,  and  all  such  vanities  ?" 

"  If  I  must  speak  the  truth,  I  do — most  heartily!" 

Victoria  was  not  easily  turned  from  her  purpose. 

"Come,  Sarah  !  Tell  us  what  you  would  have  us,  poor 
trifling,  silly  things,  do  to  kill  the  time." 

"  If  you  must  be  a  murderer,  do  it  in  your  own  way.  I 
have  nothing  to  say  in  the  matter." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  time  never  hangs  upon  your  hands  ? 
that  you  are  never  ennuyee — blasee?" 

"  Speak  English,  and  I  will  answer  you !"  • 

"  I  want  to  know,"  said  the  persevering  tormentor,  "  if 
the  hum-drum  books  up-stairs,  your  paint  box,  and  your 
easel  are  such  good  company  that  you  are  contented  and 
happy  always  when  you  are  with  them  ?  if  you  never  get 
cross  with  yourself  and  everybody  else,  and  wonder  what 
you  were  put  into  the  world  for,  and  why  the  world  itself 
was  made,  and  wish  that  you  could  sleep  until  doomsday. 
Do  you  ever  feel  like  this  ?" 

Sarah  lifted  her  eyes  with  a  wondering,  incredulous  stare 
at  the  flippant  inquisitor. 

"  I  have  felt  thus,  but  I  did  not  suppose  that  you  had  !" 

"  Oh !  I  have  a  «  blue'  turn  now  and  then,  but  the  disease 
is  always  more  dangerous  with  girls  of  your  sort — the  read- 


HUSKS.  19 

ing,  thinking,  strong-minded  kind.  And  the  older  you 
grow,  the  worse  you  will  get.  I  haven't  as  much  book 
knowledge  as  you  have,  but  I  know  more  of  the  world  we 
we  live  in.  Take  my  advice  and  settle  down  to  woman's 
right  sphere.  Drive  away  the  vapors  with  beaux  and  fancy- 
work  now.  By  and  by,  a  husband  and  an  establishment 
will  give  you  something  else  to  think  about." 

Sarah  would  have  replied,  but  Lucy  broke  in  with  a 
laugh,  light  and  sweet. 

"You  two  are  always  at  cross-questions!  Why  can't 
you  be  satisfied  to  let  one  another  alone?  Sarah  and  I 
never  quarrel,  Vie.  We  agree  to  disagree.  She  gives  me 
my  way  and  I  don't  meddle  with  her.  If  she  likes  the 
blues  (they  say  some  people  enjoy  them),  where's  the  harm 
of  her  having  them  ?  They  never  come  near  me.  If  I  get 
stupid,  I  go  to  bed  and  sleep  it  off.  Don't  you  think  I  have 
done  ten  rows,  since  breakfast  ?  What  a  godsend  a  rainy 
day  is,  when  one  has  a  fascinating  piece  of  work  on  hand !" 
*  Too  proud  to  seem  to  abandon  the  field,  Sarah  sat  for 
half  an  hour  longer,  stitching  steadily  away  at  the  compli 
cated  tracery  upon  the  ground  to  be  worked ;  then,  as  the 
dimmer  daylight  caused  the  others  to  draw  near  to  the 
windows,  she  pushed  aside  her  table  and  put  by  her  sew 
ing. 

"  Don't  let  us  drive  you  away !"  said  Victoria's  mock- 
polite  tones ;  and  Lucy  added,  kindly,  "  We  do  not  mean 
to  disturb  you,  Sarah,  dear !" 

"  You  do  not  disturb  me !"  was  the  reply  to  the  latter. 
The  other  had  neither  glance  nor  word. 

Up  another  flight  she  mounted  to  a  room,  much  smaller 
than  that  she  had  left  and  far  plainer  in  its  appointments. 
The  higher  one  went  in  Mrs.  Hunt's  house,  the  less  splendid 
every  thing  became.  In  the  state  spare  chamber — a  story 
below — nothing  of  comfort  and  luxury  was  wanting,  from 


20  HUSKS. 

the  carved  rose-wood  bedstead,  with  the  regal-looking 
canopy  overshadowing  its  pillows,  down  to  the  Bohemian 
and  cut-glass  scent  bottles  upon  the  marble  of  the  dressing- 
cabinet.  Sarah's  carpet  was  common  ingrain,  neither  pretty 
nor  new ;  a  cottage  bedstead  of  painted  wood ;  bureau  and 
wash-stand  of  the  same  material ;  two  chairs,  and  a  small 
table  were  all  the  furniture  her  mother  adjudged  needful. 
To  these  the  girl  had  added,  from  her  pittance  of  pocket- 
money,  a  set  of  hanging  bookshelves ;  a  portable  desk,  an 
easel,  and  two  or  three  good  engravings  that  adorned  the 
walls. 

She  locked  the  door  after  her,  with  a  kind  of  angry  satis 
faction  in  her  face,  and  going  straight  to  the  window,  leaned 
upon  the  sash,  and  looked  down  into  the  flooded  street. 
Her  eyes  were  dry,  but  there  was  a  heaving  in  her  throat ; 
a  tightening  of  the  muscles  about  the  mouth  that  would 
have  made  most  women  weep  for  very  relief.  Sarah  Hunt 
would  have  scorned  the  ease  purchased  by  such  weakness. 
She  did  not  despise  the  sad  loneliness  that  girt  her  around, 
any  more  than  the  captive  warrior  does  his  cell  of  iron  or 
stone,  but  she  held  that  it  would  be  a  cowardly  succumbing 
to  Fate,  to  wound  herself  by  dashing  against  the  grim 
walls,  or  bring  out  their  sleeping  echoes  by  womanish  wail- 
ings.  So,  presently,  her  throat  ached  and  throbbed  no 
longer  ;  the  rigid  muscles  compressed  the  lips  no  more  than 
was  their  wont ;  the  hands  loosened  their  vise-like  grasp  of 
one  another — the  brain  was  free  to  think. 

The  rain  fell  still  with  a  solemn  stateliness  that  befitted 
the  coming  twilight.  It  was  a  silent  storm  for  one  so  heavy. 
The  faint  hum  of  the  city ;  the  tinkle  of  the  car-bell,  three 
blocks  off,  arose  to  her  window  above  its  plashing  fall  upon 
the  pavement,  and  the  trickle  of  the  drops  from  sash  to  sill. 
A  stream  of  light  from  the  lamp-post  at  the  corner  flashed 
athwart  the  sidewalk,  glittered  upon  the  swollen  gutter, 


HUSKS.  21 

made  gold  and  silver  blocks  of  the  paving-stones.  As  if 
they  had  waited  for  this  signal,  other  lights  now  shone  out 
from  the  windows  across  the  way,  and  from  time  to  time  a 
broad,  transient  gleam  from  opening  doors,  told  of  the  re 
turn  of  fathers,  brothers,  husbands  from  their  day's  employ 
ment. 

"  In  happy  homes  he  sees  the  light." 

What  was  there  in  the  line  that  should  make  the  watcher 
catch  her  breath  in  sudden  pain,  and  lay  her  hand,  with 
stifled  moan,  over  her  heart,  as  she  repeated  it  aloud  ? 

Witness  with  me,  ye  maternal  Hunts,  who  read  this  page 
— you,  the  careful  and  solicitous  about  many  things — in 
nothing;  more  ambitious  than  for  the  advancement  and  suc 
cess  in  life  of  your  offspring — add  your  testimony  to  mine 
that  this  girl  had  all  that  was  desirable  for  one  of  her  age 
and  in  her  circumstances.  A  house  as  handsome  as  her 
neighbors,  an  education  unsurpassed  by  any  of  her  late 
school-fellows,  a  "  position  in  society ;"  a  reasonable  share 
of  good  looks,  which  only  required  care  and  cultivation  on 
her  part,  to  become  really  distingue ;  indulgent  parents  and 
peaceably  inclined  brothers  and  sisters ;  read  the  list,  and 
solve  me,  if  you  can,  the  enigma  of  this  perturbed  spirit — 
this  hungering  and  thirsting  after  contraband  or  unattaina 
ble  pleasures. 

"  Some  girls  will  do  so !"  Mrs.  Hunt  assured  her  husband 
when  he  "thought  that  Sarah  did  not  seem  so  happy  as 
Lucy.  He  hoped  nothing  ailed  the  child.  Perhaps  the  doc 
tor  had  better  drop  in  to  see  her.  Could  she  be  fretting  for 
any  thing  ?  or  had  her  feelings  been  hurt  ?" 

"  Bless  your  soul,  Mr.  H. !  there's  nothing  the  matter 
with  her.  She  always  was-  kind  o'  queer !"  (Mrs.  Hunt  did 
not  use  her  company  grammar  every  day),  and  she's  jest 
eighteen  year  old.  That's  the  whole  of  it!  She'll  come 
'round  in  good  time,  'specially  if  Lucy  should  marry  off 


22  HUSKS. 

pretty  soon.  When  Sarah  is  '  Miss  Hunt,'  she'll  be  as  crazy 
for  beaux  and  company,  and  as  ready  to  jump  at  a  prime 
offer  as  any  of  'em.  I  know  girls'  ways !" 

Nor  am  I  prepared  to  say  that  Sarah,  as  she  quitted  her 
look-out  at  the  high  window,  at  the  sound  of  the  dinner- 
bell,  could  have  given  a  more  satisfactory  reason  for  her 
discontent  and  want  of  spirits. 


HUSKS.  23 


CHAPTER  II. 

MRS.  HUNT'S  china,  like  her  grammar,  was  of  two  sorts. 
When  her  duty  to  "  society"  or  the  necessity  of  circum 
stances  forced  her  to  be  hospitable,  she  "did  the  thing" 
well.  At  a  notice  of  moderate  length,  she  could  get  up  a 
handsome,  if  not  a  bountiful  entertainment,  to  which  no 
man  need  have  been  ashamed  to  seat  his  friends,  and  when 
the  occasion  warranted  the  display,  she  grudged  not  the 
"  other"  china,  the  other  silver,  nor  the  other  table-linen. 

She  did,  however,  set  her  face,  like  a  broad  flint,  against 
the  irregularity  of  inviting  chance  visitors  to  partake  of  the 
family  bread  and  salt.  Intimate  as  Victoria  West  was  with 
Lucy,  she  met  only  a  civil  show  of  regretful  acquiescence  in 
her  proposal  to  go  home,  as  the  dinner  hour  approached ; 
and  Robbie  or  Richard  Hunt  was  promptly  offered  to  escort 
her  to  her  abode  upon  the  next  block.  If  she  remained  to 
luncheon,  as  she  would  do  occasionally,  Lucy,  in  her  hearing, 
begged  her  mother  to  excuse  them  from  going  down,  and 
to  send  up  two  cups  of  tea,  and  a  few  sandwiches  to  the 
sitting-room.  This  slight  repast  was  served  by  the  butler 
upon  a  neat  little  tray,  in  a  tete-d-tete  service — a  Christmas 
gift  to  Lucy,  "from  her  ever-loving  Victoria,"  and  sen 
timentally  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  pair  of  adopted 
sisters. 

Therefore,  Sarah  was  not  surprised  to  find  Victoria  gone, 
despite  the  storm,  when  she  entered  the  dining-room.  An 
immense  crumb-cloth  covered  the  carpet ;  a  row  of  shrouded 


24  HUSKS. 

chairs,  packed  elbow  to  elbow,  stood  against  the  further 
end  of  the  apartment,  and  a  set  of  very  ordinary  ones  were 
around  the  table.  The  cloth  was  of  whity-brown  material, 
and  the  dishes  a  motley  collection  of  halt  and  maimed — for 
all  Mrs.  Hunt's  vigilance  could  not  make  servants  miracu 
lously  careful.  There  was  no  propriety,  however,  according 
to  her  system  of  economy,  in  condemning  a  plate  or  cup  as 
past  service,  because  it  had  come  off  second  best,  to  the  ex 
tent  of  a  crack,  or  nick,  or  an  amputated  handle  in  an  en 
counter  with  some  other  member  of  the  crockery  tribe. 
"  While  there  is  life  there  is  hope,"  was,  in  these  cases, 
paraphrased  by  her  to  the  effect  that  while  a  utensil  would 
hold  water,  it  was  too  good  to  be  thrown  away. 

It  was  not  a  sumptuous  repast  to  which  Sarah  sat  down 
after  she  had  placed  Jeannie  in  her  high  chair  and  tied  the 
great  gingham  bib  around  her  neck.  On  the  contrary,  it 
came  near  being  a  scant  provision  for  the  healthy  appetites 
of  seven  people.  Before  Mr.  Hunt,  a  mild,  quiet  little  man, 
was  a  dish  of  stew,  which  was,  in  its  peculiar  line,  a  thing — 
not  of  beauty — but  wonder. 

Only  a  few  days  since,  as  I  stood  near  the  stall  of  a 
poultry  vender  in  market,  a  lady  inquired  for  chickens. 

"  Yes,  ma'am.     Roasting  size,  ma'am  ?" 

"  No  ;  I  want  them  for  a  fricassee." 

"  Ah" — with  a  look  of  shrewd  intelligence.  "  Then, 
ma'am,  I  tal^e  it,  you  don't  care  to  have  'em  overly  tender. 
Most  ladies  prefers  the  old  ones  for  fricassee ;  Hhey  come 
cheaper,  and  very  often  bile  tender." 

"Thank  you,"  was  the  amused  rejoinder.  "The  dif 
ference  in  the  price  is  no  consideration  where  the  safety  of 
our  teeth  is  concerned." 

Mrs.  Hunt  suffered  not  these  scruples  to  hinder  her 
negotiations  with  knowing  poultry  merchants.  A  cent  less 
per  pound  would  be  three  cents  saved  upon  the  chicken, 


HUSKS.  25 

and  three  cents  would  buy  enough  turnips  for  dinner.  It 
is  an  ignorant  housekeeper  who  needs  to  be  informed  that 
stewed  chicken  "goes  further"  than  the  same  fowl  made 
into  any  other  savory  combination.  Mrs.  Hunt's  stews  were 
concocted  after  a  receipt  of  her  own  invention.  Imprimis, 
one  chicken,  weight  varying  from  two  and  a  half  to  three 
pounds  ;  salt  pork,  a  quarter  of  a  pound ;  gravy  abundant ; 
dumplings  innumerable.  It  was  all  "  stew  ;"  and  if  Jean- 
nie's  share  was  but  a  bare  drumstick,  swimming  in  gravy 
and  buried  in  boiled  dough,  there  was  the  chicken  flavor 
through  the  portion, 

For  classic  antecedent  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  fable 
of  the  rose-scented  clay. 

To  leave  the  principal  dish,  which  justice  to  Mrs.  Hunt's 
genius  would  not  permit  me  to  pass  with  briefer  mention, 
there  were,  besides,  potatoes,  served  whole  (mashed  ones 
required  butter  and  cream),  turnips,  and  bread,  and  Mrs. 
Hunt  presided  over  a  shallow  platter  of  pork  and  beans. 
What  was  left  of  that  dish  would  be  warmed  over  to  piece 
out  breakfast  next  morning.  The  children  behaved  well, 
and  the  most  minute  by-law  of  table  etiquette  was  observed 
with  a  strictness  that  imparted  an  air  of  ceremonious  re 
straint  to  the  meal.  If  Mrs.  Hunt's  young  people  were  not 
in  time  finished  ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  was  not  her  fault, 
nor  was  it  for  the  lack  of  drilling. 

"  Do  as  J  tell  you,  not  as  I  do,"  were  her  orders  in  these 
matters.  Since  Lucy  had  completed  her  education,  the 
mother  added :  "  Look  at  your  sister ;  she  is  never 
awkward !"  This  was  true :  Lucy  was  born  the  fine  lady. 
Refinement  of  manner  and  grace  of  movement,  an  instinc 
tive  avoidance  of  whatever  looked  common  or  underbred 
were  a  part  of  her  nature.  Only  the  usage  of  years  had 
accustomed  her  to  her  mother's  somewhat  "fussy"  ways. 

Had  she  met  her  in  company  as  Mrs.  Anybody  else,  she 
2 


26  H  U  S  K  S  . 

would  have  yielded  her  the  right  of  way  with  a  feeling  of 
amazement  and  amiable  pity  that  one  who  meant  so  well 
should  so  often  overdo  the  thing  she  aimed  to  accomplish 
easily  and  gracefully.  Following  out  her  excellent  system 
of  training,  the  worthy  dame  demanded  as  diligent  and 
alert  waiting  from  her  butler  as  if  she  were  having  a  dinner 
party.  The  eggless  rice  pudding  was  brought  on  with  a 
state  that  was  absolutely  ludicrous ;  but  the  family  were 
used  to  the  unsubstantial  show,  and  took  it  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

After  the  meal  was  over  Mrs.  Hunt  withdrew  to  the 
kitchen  for  a  short  conference  with  the  cook  and  a  sharp 
glance  through  the  closets.  It  was  impossible  that  the 
abstraction  of  six  slices  of  bread  from  the  baking  of  the 
preceding  day,  three  thick  pieces  of  cheese,  and  more  than 
half  of  the  cold  meat  she  had  decided  would,  in  the  form  of 
hash,  supply  the  other  piece  of  the  breakfast  at  which  the 
beans  were  to  assist,  should  escape  her  notice. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  reading  the  evening  paper  by  the  drop- 
light  in  the  sitting  room,  Lucy  was  busy  with  her  shawl, 
and  Sarah  told  a  simple  tale  in  a  low  voice  to  Jeannie,  as 
she  leaned  upon  her  lap,  when  the  wife  and  mother  entered, 
with  something  like  a  bluster.  All  present  looked  up,  and 
each  one  remarked  the  cloud  upon  her  brow. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  mother  ?"  said  Mr.  Hunt,  in  a  tone 
not  free  from  alarm. 

"  I  am  worried !  That's  the  whole  of  it !  I  am  down 
right  vexed  with  you,  Sarah,  and  surprised,  too!  What 
upon  earth  possessed  you,  child,  to  take  that  beggar  into  my 
kitchen  to-day  ?  After  all  I  have  told  you  and  tried  to 
learn  you  about  these  shameful  impostors !  I  declare  I  was 
beat  out  when  I  heard  it.  And  to  throw  away  provisions 
and  clothes  upon  such  a  brat !" 

Lucy  opened  her  great  eyes  at  her  sister,  and  Mr.  Hunt 


HUSKS.  27 

looked  perplexedly  towards  Ms  favorite,  for  at  heart  he  was 
partial  to  his  second  child. 

"  I  took  the  poor  creature  to  the  fire,  mother,  because  she 
was  wet  and  cold ;  I  fed  her  because  she  was  hungry ;  I 
gave  her  some  old,  warm  clothes  of  mine  because  hers  were 
thin  and  soaked  with  rain." 

"  Poor  little  girl !"  murmured  Jeannie,  compassionately. 

Sarah's  hand  closed  instantly  over  the  little  fingers.  The 
simple-hearted  babe  understood  and  sympathized  with  her 
motive  and  act  better  than  did  her  wiser  elders. 

"  Oh,  I  have  no  doubt  she  told  a  pitiful  story,  and  shed 
enough  tears  to  wet  her  through,  if  the  rain  had  not  done 
it  already.  If  you  listen  to  what  these  wretches  say,  and 
undertake  to  relieve  their  wants,  you  will  soon  have  not  a 
dress  to  your  back  nor  a  house  over  your  head.  Why 
didn't  you  send  her  to  some  society  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor  ?" 

"  I  did  not  know  where  to  find  one,  ma'am." 

This  plain  truth,  respectfully  uttered,  confounded  Mrs. 
Hunt  for  a  second. 

"  Mrs.  James  is  one  of  the  managers  in  a  Benevolent  As 
sociation,"  she  said,  recovering  herself.  "  You  had  ought 
to  have  given  your  beggar  her  address." 

"  Even  if  I  had  known  that  fact,  mother,  the  girl  would 
have  beenvobliged  to  walk  half  a  mile  hi  the  storm  to  find 
this  one  manager.  What  do  you  suppose  Mrs.  James  would 
have  done  for  her  that  was  not  in  my  power  to  perform  ?" 

"  She  would  have  asked  the  child  whereabouts  she  lived, 
and  to-morrow  she  would  have  gone  to  hunt  her  up.  If 
she  found  all  as  she  had  been  told,  which  is  not  likely — these 
creatures  don't  give  a  right  direction  once  in  ten  times — why, 
she  would  have  brought  the  case  before  the  board  at  their 
next  meeting,  and  they  would  help  them,  if  neither  of  her 
parents  was  a  drinking  character." 


28  HUSKS. 

"  God  help  the  poor !"  ejiaculated  Sarah,  energetically. 
"  God  help  the  poor,  if  this  is  man's  style  of  relieving  his 
starving  brother !  Mother,  do  you  think  that  hunger 
pinches  any  the  less  when  the  famished  being  is  told  that 
next  week  or  next  month  may  bring  him  one  good  meal  ? 
Will  the  promise  of  a  bushel  of  coal  or  a  blanket,  to  be 
given  ten  days  hence,  warm  the  limbs  that  are  freezing  to 
night  ?  Is  present  help  for  present  need,  then,  always  un 
safe,  imprudent,  insane  ?" 

"  That  all  sounds  very  fine,  my  dear."  Mrs.-  Hunt  grew 
cool  as  her  daughter  waxed  warm.  "  But  when  you  have 
seen  as  much  of  the  world  as  I  have,  you  will  understand 
how  necessary  it  is  to  be  careful  about  believing  all  that  we 
hear.  Another  thing  you  must  not  forget,  and  that  is  that 
we  are  not  able  to  give  freely,  no  matter  how  much  disposed 
we  may  be  to  do  so.  Its  pretty  hard  for  a  generous  person 
to  say  '  No,'  but  it  can't  be  helped.  People  in  our  circum 
stances  must  learn  this  lesson."  Mrs.  Hunt  sighed  at 
thought  of  the  curb  put  upon  her  benevolent  desires  by 
bitter  necessity.  "  And  after  all,  very  few — you've  no  idea 
how  few — of  these  pretended  sufferers  are  really  in  want." 

This  preluded  a  recital  of  sundry  barefaced  impositions 
and  successful  swindles  practised  upon  herself  and  acquain 
tances,  to  which  Mr.  Hunt  subjoined  certain  of  his  personal 
experiences,  all  tending  to  establish  the  principle  that  in  a 
vast  majority  of  cases  of  seeming  destitution  the  supplicant 
was  an  accomplished  rogue,  and  the  giver  of  alms  the  victim 
of  his  own  soft  heart  and  a  villain's  wiles.  Jeannie  drank 
in  every  syllable,  until  her  ideal  beggar  quite  equalled  the 
ogre  who  would  have  made  a  light  supper  off  of  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb  and  brothers. 

"  You  gave  this  match-girl  no  money,  I  hope  ?"  said  Mrs. 
Hunt,  at  length. 

"  I  did  not,  madam.    I  had  none  to  give  her."    Impelled 


HUSKS.  29 

by  her  straightforward  sense  of  honesty  that  would  not 
allow  her  to  receive  commendation  for  prudence  she  had 
not  shown,  she  said,  bravely  :  "  but  I  lent  her  my  umbrella 
upon  her  promise  to  return  it  to-morrow." 

"  WELL  !" 

Mrs.  Hunt  dropped  her  hands  in  her  lap,  and  stared  in 
speechless  dismay  at  her  daughter.  Even  her  husband  felt 
it  his  duty  to  express  his  disapprobation. 

"  That  was  very  unwise,  my  daughter.  You  will  never 
see  it  again." 

"I  think  differently,  father." 

"  You  are  too  easily  imposed  upon,  Sarah.  There  is  not 
the  least  probability  that  your  property  will  be  returned. 
Was  it  a  good  umbrella  ?" 

"  It  was  the  one  I  always  use." 

"  Black  silk,  the  best  make,  with  a  carved  ivory  handle — 
cost  six  dollars  a  month  ago !"  gasped  Mrs.  Hunt.  "  I 
never  heard  of  such  a  piece  of  shameful  imprudence  in  all 
my  born  days  !  and  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  you  never  once 
thought  to  ask  her  where  she  lived,  that  you  might  send  a 
police  officer  after  it,  if  the  little  thief  didn't  bring  it  back 
to  you?" 

"  I  did  think  of  it."  Sarah  paused,  then  forced  out  the 
confession  she  foresaw  would  subject  her  to  the  charge  of 
yet  more  ridiculous  folly.  "  I  did  think  of  it,  but  con 
cluded  to  throw  the  girl  upon  her  honor,  not  to  suggest  the 
theft  to  her  by  insinuating  a  doubt  of  her  integrity." 

Mr.  Hunt  was  annoyed  with  and  sorry  for  the  culprit,  yet 
he  could  not  help  smiling  at  this  high-flown  generosity  of 
confidence.  "  You  are  certainly  the  most  unsophisticated 
girl  of  your  age  I  ever  met  with,  my  daughter.  I  shall  not 
mind  the  loss  of  the  umbrella  if  it  prove  to  be  the  means 
of  giving  you  a  lesson  in  human  nature.  In  this  world, 
dear,  it  will  not  do  to  wear  your  heart  upon  your  sleeve. 


30  HUSKS. 

Never  believe  a  pretty  story  until  you  have  had  the  oppor 
tunity  to  ascertain  for  yourself  whether  it  is  true  or  false." 
And  with  these  titbits  of  worldly  wisdom,  the  cashier 
picked  up  his  paper. 

"  Six  dollars  !  I  declare  I  don't  know  what  to  say  to  you, 
Sarah !"  persisted  the  ruffled  mother.  "  You  cannot  expect 
me  to  buy  you  another  umbrella  this  season.  You  must 
give  up  your  walks  in  damp  weather  after  this.  I  can't  say 
that  I'm  very  sorry  for  that,  though.  I  never  did  fancy 
your  traipsing  off  two  or  three  miles,  rain  or  shine,  like  a 
sewing  girl." 

"  Very  well,  madam  !" 

But,  steadied  by  pride  as  was  her  voice,  her  heart  sank  at 
the  possibility  of  resigning  the  exercise  upon  which  she 
deemed  that  so  much  of  her  health,  physical  and  mental, 
depended.  These  long,  solitary  walks  were  one  of  the  un- 
American  habits  that  earned  for  Sarah  Hunt  the  reputation 
of  eccentricity.  They  were  usually  taken  immediately  after 
breakfast,  and  few  in  the  neighborhood  who  were  abroad  or 
happened  to  look  out  at  that  hour,  were  not  familiar  with 
the  straight,  proud  figure,  habited  in  its  walking  dress  of 
gray  and  black,  stout  boots,  and  gray  hat  with  black  plume. 
It  was  a  uniform  selected  by  herself,  and  which  her  mother 
permitted  her  to  assume,  because  it  "  looked  genteel,"  and 
became  the  wearer.  Especially  did  she  enjoy  these  tramps 
when  the  threatening  storm,  in  its  early  stages,  kept  others 
of  her  class  and  sex.  at  home.  The  untamed  spirit  found  a 
fierce  pleasure  in  wrestling  with  the  wind;  the  hail  that 
ushered  in  the  snow-storm,  as  it  beat  in  her  face,  called  up 
lustre  to  the  eye  and  warm  color  to  the  cheek.  To  a  soul 
sickening  of  the  glare  and  perfume  of  the  artificial  life  to 
which  she  was  confined,  the  roughest  and  wildest  aspects  of 
nature  were  a  welcome  change. 

I  remember  laughing  heartily,  as  I  doubt  not  you  did 


HUSKS.  31 

also,  dear  reader,  if  you  saw  it,  at  a  cut  which  appeared 
several  years  ago  in  the  Punch  department  of  Harper's 
Magazine.  A  "  wee  toddler,"  perhaps  four  years  old,  with 
a  most  lack-a-daisical  expression  upon  her  chubby  visage, 
accosts  her  grandmother  after  this  fashion :  "  I  am  tired  of 
life,  grandmamma !  The  world  is  hollow,  and  my  doll  is 
stuffed  with  sawdust,  and,  if  you  please,  ma'am,  I  should 
like  to  go  to  a  nunnery  !" 

Yet,  that  there  are  natures  upon  which  the  feeling  of  empti 
ness  and  longing  herein  burlesqued  seizes  in  mere  babyhood 
is  sadly  true.  And  what  wonder?  From  their  cradles, 
hundreds  of  children,  in  our  so-called  better  classes,  are  fed 
upon  husks.  A  superficial  education,  in  which  all  that  is 
not  showy  accomplishment  is  so  dry  and  uninviting  that  the 
student  has  little  disposition  to  seek  further  for  the  rich 
kernel,  the  strong  meat  of  knowledge,  is  the  preparatory 
course  to  a  premature  introduction  into  the  world,  to  many 
the  only  phase  of  life  they  are  permitted  to  see,  a  scene 
where  all  is  flash  and  froth,  empty  bubbles  of  prizes,  chased 
by  men  and  women  with  empty  heads,  and  oh,  how  often 
empty,  aching  hearts !  Outside  principles,  outside  affec 
tions,  outside  smiles,  and  most  pitable  of  all,  outside  piety ! 
Penury  of  heart  and  stomach  at  home ;  abroad  a  parade 
of  reckless  extravagance  and  ostentatious  profession  of  fine 
feeling  and  liberal  sentiments ! 

"  Woe,"  cried  the  Preacher,  "  to  them  that  make  haste 
to  be  rich !"  If  he  had  lived  in  our  day,  in  what  biting 
terms  of  reprobation  and  contempt  •  would  he  have  de 
claimed  against  the  insane  ambition  of  those  who  forego 
the  solid  comforts  of  judicious  expenditure  of  a  moderate 
income  would  afford;  spurn  the  holy  quiet  of  domestic 
joys — neglect  soul  with  heart  culture — in  their  haste  to  seem 
rich,  when  Providence  has  seen  that  wealth  is  not  to  be 
desired  for  them  !  Out  upon  the  disgusting,  indecent  race 


32  HUSKS. 

and  scramble!  The  worship  of  the  golden  calf  is  bad 
enough,  but  when  this  bestial  idolatry  rises  to  such  a  pitch 
of  fanaticism,  that  in  thousands  of  households,  copies  in 
pinchbeck  and  plated-ware  are  set  up  and  served,  the  spec 
tacle  is  too  monstrous  in  its  abomination !  This  it  is,  that 
crowds  our  counting-rooms  with  bankrupts  and  our  state- 
prisons  with  defaulters ;  that  is  fast  turning  our  ball-rooms 
and  other  places  of  fashionable  rendezvous,  into  vile  carica 
tures  of  foreign  courts,  foreign  manners,  and  foreign  vices ; 
while  the  people  we  ape — our  chosen  models  and  exem 
plars — hold  their  sides  in  inextinguishable  laughter  at  the 
grave  absurdity  of  our  laborious  imitation.  It  is  no  cause 
for  marvel,  that,  in  just  retribution,  there  should  be  sent  a 
panic-earthquake,  every  three  years,  to  shake  men  to  their 
senses. 

Such  was  the  atmosphere  in  which  Sarah  Hunt  had 
always  lived.  In  the  code  subscribed  to  by  her  mother, 
and  the  many  who  lived  and  felt  and  panted  and  pushed  as 
she  did  for  social  distinction,  nothing  was  of  real,  absolute 
value  except  the  hard  cash.  Gold  and  silver  were  facts. 
All  things  else  were  comparative  in  use  and  worth.  The 
garment  which,  last  winter,  no  lady  felt  dressed  without,  was 
an  obsolete  horror  this  season.  The  pattern  of  curtains  and 
furniture  that  nearly  drove  the  fortunate  purchaser  wild  with 
delight,  three  years  back,  was  now  only  fit  for  the  auction 
room.  In  vain  might  the  poor  depleted  husband  plead  for 
and  extol  their  beauties.  The  fiat  of  fashion  had  gone  forth, 
and  his  better  half  seasoned  his  food  with  lamentations,  and 
moistened  her  pillow  with  tears  until  she  carried  her  point. 
We  have  intimated  that  Sarah  was  a  peculiar  girl.  Whence 
she  derived  her  vigorous  intellect ;  her  strong,  original  turn 
of  thought ;  her  deep  heart,  was  a  puzzle  to  those  who 
knew  her  parents.  The  mother  was  energetic,  the  father 
sensible,  but  both  were  commonplace,  and  followed,  like 


HUSKS.  33 

industrious  puppets,  in  the  wake  of  others.  They  were 
pleased  that  Sarah  brought  home  all  the  prizes  offered  at 
school,  and  both  considered  that  she  gained  a  right,  by 
these  victories,  to  pursue  her  studies  at  home,  provided  she 
did  not  obtrude  her  singular  views  and  tastes  upon  other 
people.  Mrs.  Hunt  sighed,  frequently  and  loudly,  in  her 
presence,  that  her  genius  had  not  been  for  shell,  or  bead,  or 
worsted  work,  instead  of  for  reading  volumes,  that  did  not 
even  decorate  the  show  book-case  in  the  library. 

"  If  you  must  have  so  many  books,  why  don't  you  pick 
out  them  with  the  tasty  bindings  ?"  she  had  asked  her 
daughter  more  than  once.  "  And  I  wish  you  would  paint 
some  bright,  lively  pictures,  that  would  look  handsome  on 
the  walls,  instead  of  those  queer  men  and  women  and 
cloudy  things  you  have  got  up-stairs.  I'd  have  'em  framed 
right  away,  and  be  real  proud  to  tell  who  done  them/' 

Sarah  remained  proof  against  such  hints  and  temptations, 
and,  shrinking  more  and  more  from  the  uncongenial  whirl 
around  her,  she  turned  her  eager,  restless  spirit  into  her 
secret,  inner  life,  where,  at  times,  it  was  flattered  into  con 
tent  by  the  idealities  upon  which  it  was  fed ;  at  others, 
ramped  and  raved,  like  any  other  chained  wild  thing.  The 
sweetest  drop  of  pleasure  she  had  tasted  for  many  a  day 
was  the  thrill  she  experienced  when  the  forlorn  object  she 
had  rescued  from  the  power  of  the  storm  stood  before  her, 
decently  and  comfortably  clad.  The  rash  confidence  she 
had  reposed  in  so  suspicious  a  stranger  was  the  outgoing 
of  a  heart  too  noble  and  true  in  every  impulse  to  pause,  for 
a  moment,  to  speculate  upon  the  chances  of  another's  good 
or  bad  faith.  The  great  world  of  the  confessedly  poor  was 
an  unknown  field  to  her — one  she  longed  to  explore.  Her 
footsteps  loitered  more  often  near  the  entrance  of  some 
narrow,  reeking  street  or  alley,  down  which  she  had  prom 
ised  her  mother  not  to  go,  than  on  the  spacious  pave,  where 


34:  HUSKS. 

over-dressed  women  and  foppish  men  halted  at,  and  hung 
around  bewitching  shop-windows.  She  wondered  how  such 
throngs  of  breathing  beings  contrived  to  exist  in  those 
fetid,  cramped  quarters  ;  how  they  lived,  spoke,  acted,  felt. 
The  great  tie  of  human  brotherhood  became  daily  more 
tense,  as  she  pondered  these  things  in  her  heart. 

On  this  particular  day,  as  she  sat,  silent  and  thoughtful, 
at  her  needle,  the  chit-chat  of  her  companions  less  heeded 
than  the  continual  dropping  of  the  rain  without,  the  wail 
of  the  shivering  wanderer  caused  a  painful  vibration 
through  every  nerve.  The  deed  was  done !  the  experiment 
was  tried.  She  was  ashamed  that  an  event  so  trivial  held 
her  eyes  waking,  far  into  the  night.  At  least,  she  said  to 
herself,  she  would  not  be  without  a  lesson  of  some  kind ; 
would  learn  whether  deceit  and  falsehood  prevailed  in  the 
lowest,  as  well  as  the  higher  ranks  of  society.  If,  as  she 
still  strove  to  believe  would  be  the  case,  the  child  returned 
the  borrowed  property,  she  would  make  use  of  her,  as  the 
means  of  entering  upon  a  new  sphere  of  research  and  ac 
tion.  After  so  complete  a  refutation  of  her  theories  re 
specting  the  utter  corruption  of  all  people,  who  had  not 
enough  to  eat  and  to  wear,  her  mother  could  not  withhold 
her  consent  to  her  petition  that  she  might  become  a  lay- 
missionary — a  present  relief  committee  to  a  small  portion 
of  the  suffering,  toiling,  ill-paid  masses.  She  would  then 
have  a  work  to  do — something' to  call  out  energy  and  en 
gage  feeling  in  healthy  exercise — and  soothed  by  the 
romantic  vision,  she  fell  asleep  with  a  smile  upon  her  lips. 

The  morning  dawned  between  breaking  clouds,  that  soon 
left  the  sky  clear  and  bright.  All  through  the  day  Sarah 
watched  for  her  visitor  of  the  preceding  day — watched  with 
nervousness  she  could  not  wholly  conceal,  from  morn  to 
night,  for  two,  three  days — for  a  week.  Then  she  looked 
no  longer  while  at  home;  her  question,  at  entering  the 


HUSKS.  35 

house,  after  a  drive  or  walk,  ceased  to  be,  "  Has  any  thing 
been  left  for  me?"  So  palpable  was  her  disappointment 
that  her  father  forbore  to  make  any  allusion  to  her  loss,  and 
Lucy,  albeit  she  was  somewhat  obtuse  to  the  finer  points  of 
her  sister's  character,  good-naturedly  interposed  to  change 
the  subject,  when  her  mother  sought  to  improve  the  inci 
dent  to  her  daughter's  edification  and  future  profit.  Mr. 
Hunt  was  right  in  supposing  that  the  "  unsophisticated 
girl"  had  learned  something.  Whether  she  were  happier  or 
better  for  the  lesson  thus  acquired  was  another  thing. 

Once  again  Sarah  had  an  opportunity  for  speech  with  her 
delinquent  protege.  Two  months  later  she  was  passing 
through  a  by-street  in  a  mean  neighborhood,  very  far  up 
town,  in  her  morning  ramble,  when  her  progress  was  ar 
rested,  for  an  instant,  by  two  boys,  who  ran  out  of  an  alley 
across  the  walk.  One  overtook  the  other  just  in  front  of 
the  lady,  and  catching  him  by  his  ragged  collar,  threw  him 
down. 

"  That's  right !   beat  him  well !    I'll  help !"  screeched  a  . 
girl,  rushing  out  of  the  court  whence  they  had  come. 

Grinning  with  delight,  she  flung  herself  upon  the  pros 
trate  form  and  commenced  a  vigorous  assault,  accompanied 
by  language  alike  foul  and  profane. 

Sarah  recognized  her  instantly,  and  while  she  paused  in 
mingled  amazement  and  anger,  the  child  looked  up  and  saw 
her.  In  a  twinkling  she  relinquished  her  grip  of  the  boy's 
hair — jumped  up  and  sped  back  into  the  dirty  alley,  with 
the  blind  haste  of  guilty  fear. 

Yes  !  Mr.  Hunt  was  a  wise  man,  who  knew  the  world, 
and  trebly  sage  in  her  generation,  was  his  spouse.  If  their 
daughter  had  never  acknowledged  this  before,  she  did  now, 
in  her  disgust  and  dismay  at  this  utter  overthrow  of  her 
dreams  of  the  virtuous  simplicity  to  be  found  in  lowly 
homes,  where  riches  and  fashions  were  things  unknown. 


36  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER   III. 

SUMMER  had  come  to  the  country  with  its  bloom  and  its 
beauty,  its  harvests  and  its  holidays.  In  town,  its  fever 
heat  drew  noisome  smells  from  overcharged  sewers,  and 
the  black,  oily  paste  to  which  the  shower  that  should  have 
been  refreshing  had  changed  the  dust  of  crowded  thorough 
fares.  Cleaner  pavements,  in  the  higher  portions  of  the  city, 
burned  through  shoe-soles ;  glass  radiated  heat  to  polished 
stone,  and  stone  radiated,  in  its  turn,  to  brick,  that  waited 
until  the  evening  to  throw  off  its  surplus  caloric  in  hot,  suf 
focating  waves  that  made  yet  more  oppressive  the  close 
nights.  The  gay  procession  of  fashionable  humming-birds 
had  commenced  their  migrations,  steamboats  and  excursion- 
craft  multiplied  at  the  wharves,  and  the  iron  steed  put  forth 
all  his  tremendous  might  to  bear  onward  the  long  train  of 
self-exiled  travellers. 

The  Hunts,  too,  must  leave  town ;  Lucy  must,  at  all 
events,  have  a  full  season,  and  a  brilliant  one,  if  possible, 
for  it  was  her  second  summer,  and  much  might  depend 
upon  it.  Her  mother  would  accompany  her,  of  course ;  and 
equally  of  course  her  father  could  not ;  that  is,  he  must  re 
turn  after  escorting  them  to  Saratoga,  and  spend  the  re 
mainder  of  the  warm  months  at  home.  His  business  would 
not  allow  him  to  take  an  extended  vacation.  The  boys  were 
easily  disposed  of,  being  boarded  every  summer  at  the  farm 
house  of  an  early  friend  of  Mr.  Hunt's,  where  they  were 
acceptable  inmates,  their  clothes  as  well  cared  for  as  they 


HUSKS.  37 

were  at  home,  and  their  morals  more  diligently  cultivated. 
The  younger  girls  caused  that  excellent  manager,  their 
mother,  more  perplexity.  This  was  not  the  first  time  she 
had  repented  her  indiscretion  in  allowing  Sarah  to  "  come 
out"  before  her  elder  sister  had  "  gone  off."  But  "  Sarah 
was  so  tall  and  so  womanly  in  her  appearance  that  it  looked 
queer,  and  would  set  people  to  talking  if  I  kept  her  back," 
she  was  accustomed  to  excuse  her  impolitic  move  to  her 
friends.  This  summer  she  realized,  as  she  had  not  done  be 
fore,  the  inconvenience  of  having  two  full-fledged  young 
ladies  upon  the  carpet  at  once.  Lucy's  elegant  and  varied 
wardrobe,  and  the  certain  expenses  in  prospect  for  her  and 
her  chaperon  at  Spa,  seaside,  and  en  route,  left  a  balance  in 
hand  of  the  sum  allotted  for  the  season's  expenditure  that 
was  startling  in  its  meagreness.  Mrs.  Hunt  was  a  capital 
financier,  a  peerless  economist,  but  the  exigency  taxed  her 
resources  to  the  utmost. 

One  morning  she  arose  with  a  lightened  heart  and  a 
smoother  brow.  "I've  settled  it!"  she  exclaimed  to  her 
husband,  shaking  him  from  his  matutinal  doze. 

The  "Eureka!"  of  the  Syracusan  mathematician  was  not 
more  lofty  in  its  exultation.  Forthwith  she  unfolded  to 
him  her  scheme.  She  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  "  the 
Jarseys"  she  had  heard  it  called  in  her  father's  house — had 
probably  thus  denominated  the  gallant  little  State  herself  in 
her  girlhood.  In  and  around  the  pretty,  quiet  village  of 
Shrewsbury  there  were  still  resident  scores  of  her  relatives 
whose  very  names  she  had  sedulously  forgotten.  One  alone 
she  could  not,  in  conscience  or  in  nature,  dismiss  to  such 
oblivion.  This  was  her  elder  and  only  sister,  long  married 
to  a  respectable  and  worthy  farmer,  and  living  within  a 
mile  of  "  the  old  place,"  where  both  sisters  had  drawn  the 
first  breath  of  life.  Twice  since  Mrs.  Hunt  had  lived  in  the 
city  had  this  kind  friend  been  summoned  on  account  of  the 


38  HUSKS. 

dangerous  illness  of  the  former,  and  her  presence  and  nurs 
ing  had  restored  peace,  order,  and  health  to  the  household. 
The  earlier  of  these  occasions  was  that  of  the  second  child's 
birth,  and  in  the  softened  mood  of  her  convalescence  Mrs. 
Hunt  had  bestowed  upon  the  babe  her  sister's  name — Sarah 
Benson — a  homely  appellative  she  had  ofttimes  regretted 
since.  At  distant  and  irregular  intervals,  one,  two,  three 
years,  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Benson  visited  their  connections  in 
"  York ;"  but  the  intercourse  grew  more  difficult  and  broken 
as  time  rolled  on  and  the  distance  widened  between  the  plain 
country  folk  and  their  rising  relations.  Then,  again,  death 
had  been  busy  in  the  farmhouse;  coffin  after  coffin,  of  vary 
ing  lengths,  but  all  short,  was  lifted  over  the  threshold  and 
laid  away  in  the  village  graveyard,  until  but  one  was  left  to 
the  parents  of  the  seven  little  ones  that  had  been  given  to 
them,  and  to  that  one  nature  had  denied  the  gifts  of  speech 
and  hearing.  Grief  and  the  infirmities  of  approaching  old 
age  disinclined  the  worthy  pair  to  stir  from  home,  and  their 
ambitious  sister  was  too  busy  in  building  up  a  "  set"  of  her 
own,  and  paving  the  way  for  her  daughters'  distinction,  to 
hide  her  light  for  ever  so  short  a  period  in  so  obscure  a  cor 
ner  as  her  former  home. 

Aunt  Sarah,  however,  could  not  forget  her  nurseling. 
Every  few  months  there  arrived  some  simple  token  of  affec 
tionate  remembrance  to  "  the  child"  she  had  not  seen  since 
she  wore  short  frocks  and  pinafores.  The  reception  of  a 
basket  of  fruit,  thus  despatched,  was  the  suggestive  power 
to  Mrs.  Hunt's  present  plan.  She  had  made  up  her  mind, 
so  she  informed  her  husband  straightway,  to  write  that  very 
day — yes !  that  very  forenoon,,  to  "  Sister  Benson,"  and  in 
quire  whether  she  would  board  Sarah  and  Jeannie  for  a  cou 
ple  of  months. 

"  I  don't  s'pose  she  will  let  me  pay  board  for  them,  but 
she  will  be  pleased  to  have  'em  as  long  as  they  like  to  stay. 


HUSKS.  39 

It's  never  been  exactly  convenient  for  me  to  let  any  of  the 
children  go  there  for  so  many  years,  and  it's  so  fur  off.  But 
dear  me !  sometimes  I  feel  real  bad  about  seeing  so  little  of 
my  only  sister  !" — a  heavy  sigh.  "  And  there'll  be  the  ex 
penses  of  two  saved,  out  and  out,  for  they  won't  need  a  great 
variety  of  clothes  in  that  out-of-the-way  place." 

"  But  how  will  the  girls,  Sarah  and  Jeannie,  fancy  being 
sent  off  so  ?"  inquired  Mr.  Hunt. 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  it  is  late  in  the  day  for  my  children 
to  dispute  what  I  say  shall  be  done ;  and  Sarah's  jest  that 
odd  that  she'll  like  this  notion  twenty  times  better  than  go 
ing  to  Newport  or  Saratoga.  I  know  her !  As  to  Jeannie, 
she  is  satisfied  to  be  with  her  sister  anywhere.  She  is  get 
ting  thin,  too ;  she  looks  real  peaked,  and  there's  nothing  in 
creation  so  good  for  ailing  children  as  the  salt-water  bath. 
They  have  first-rate  still- water  bathing  not  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  sister's.  It's  jest  the  thing,  I  tell  you!  The 
wonder  is  it  never  came  into  my  head  before." 

Mr.  Hunt  had  his  sigh  now.  "  Somehow  or  other  he  was 
always  down  in  the  mouth  when  the  family  broke  up  for  the 
summer,"  his  wife  frequently  complained,  and  his  lack  of 
sympathy  now  excited  her  just  ire. 

"  Upon  my  word,  Mr.  H. !  anybody  would  think  that  I 
was  the  poorest  wife  in  the  world  to  you  to  see  and  hear 
you  whenever  I  talk  to  you  of  my  plans  and  household  af 
fairs.  You  look  as  if  you  was  about  to  be  hanged,  instead 
of  feeling  obliged  to  me  for  turning,  and  twisting,  and  con 
triving,  and  studying,  day  and  night,  how  to  save  your 
money,  and  spend  what  we  must  lay  out  to  the  best  advan 
tage.  I  can  tell  you  what — there's  few  women  would  make 
your  income  go  as  far  as  I  do." 

"I  know  that,  my  dear.  The  question  is" — .  Mr.  Hunt 
paused,  cleared  his  throat,  and  strained  his  nerves  for  a 
mighty  effort,  an  unprecedented  exercise  of  moral  courage 


4:0  HUSKS. 

— "  the  question  is,  Betsy,  whether  our  income  is  stretched 
in  the  right  direction !"  Mistaking  the  stare  of  petrified 
incredulity  he  received  for  fixed  attention,  the  infatuated 
man  went  on ;  "  This  doubt  is  always  forced  upon  me  when 
we  separate  in  July,  some  to  go  to  one  place,  some  to 
another,  a  broken,  wandering  family  for  months  together. 
I  am  growing  old,  and  I  love  to  have  my  children  about  me ; 
I  begin  to  feel  the  want  of  a  home.  There  is  Johnson,  in 

the Bank,  gets  five  hundred  less  per  annum  than  I  do ; 

yet,  after  living  quietly  here  a  few  years,  he  bought  himself 
a  snug  cottage  up  the  river,  and  has  his  family  there  in  their 
own  house,  every  thing  handsome  and  comfortable  about 
them.  I  have  been  in  the  harness  for  a  long  while ;  I  expect 
to  die  in  it.  I  don't  mind  work — hard  work !  but  it  seems 
to  me  sometimes  that  we  would  all  be  better  satisfied  if  we 
had  more  to  show,  or  rather  to  hold,  for  our  money ;  if  there 
were  less  of  this  straining  after  appearances,  this  constant 
study  to  make  both  ends  meet." 

"  And  it  has  come  to  this  !" — Mrs.  Hunt  sank  into  a  chair 
and  began  to  cry.  "  This  is  my  thanks  for  slaving  and  toil 
ing  for  better  than  twenty  years  to  get  you  and  your  children 
a  stand  in  the  world !  It  isn't  for  myself  that  I  care.  I  can 
work  my  fingers  to  the  bone,  and  live  upon  a  crust !  I  can 
scrape  and  save  five  dollars  or  so  a  month !  I  can  bury  my 
self  in  the  country !  But  your  children !  those  dear,  sweet 
girls,  that  have  had  the  best  education  money  can  buy,  and 
that  to-day  visit  such  people  as  the  Murrays,  and  Sander 
sons,  and  Hoopers,  and  Baylors,  and  meet  the  Castors  and 
Crinnalls  at  parties — millionaires,  all  of  'em,  the  cream  of 
the  upper  crust !  I  don't  deny  that  I  have  been  ambitious  for 
them,  and  I  did  hope  that  you  had  something  of  the  same 
spirit ;  and  now  to  think  of  your  complaining,  and  moping, 
and  groaning  over  the  money  you  say  I've  been  and  wasted ; 
Oh!  oh!  oh!" 


HUSKS.  41 

"You  misunderstood  me,  my  dear;  I  merely  questioned 
whether  we  were  acting  wisely  in  making  so  much  display 
upon  so  little  substance.  We  are  not  millionaires,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  girls'  visiting  acquaintances,  and  I  trem 
ble  sometimes  to  think  how  all  this  false  show  may  end." 

Mr.  Hunt's  borrowed  courage  had  not  evaporated  en 
tirely. 

"  That's  distrusting  Providence,  Mr.  H. !  It's  downright 
sinful,  and  what  I  shouldn't  have  looked  for  from  you.  I 
can  tell  you  how  it  will  end.  If  both  of  us  live  ten  years 
longer,  you  will  see  your  daughters  riding  in  their  own  car 
riages,  and  leaders  of  the  tong,  and  your  sons  among  the 
first  gentlemen  of  the  city.  If  this  does  not  turn  out  true, 
you  needn't  ever  trust  my  word  again.  I've  set  my  head 
upon  getting  Lucy  off  my  hands  this  summer,  and  well  off ; 
and  mark  my  words,  Mr.  H.,  it  shall  be  done." 

One  part  of  her  mother's  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  Sarah's 
manner  of  receiving  the  proposition  so  nearly  affecting  her 
comfort  during  the  summer.  Lucy  wondered  at  the  cheer 
ful  alacrity  with  which  she  consented  to  be  "  hidden  away 
in  that  horrid  bore  of  a  farmhouse,"  and  Jeannie  cried  as  her 
elder  sister  "  supposed  that  they  would  eat  in  Aunt  Sarah's 
kitchen,  along  with  the  servant-men." 

"  Lucy,  be  quiet !"  interposed  her  mother.  "  Your  aunt 
is  not  a  common  poor  person.  Mr.  Benson  is  a  man  of  in 
dependent  means,  quite  rich  for  the  country.  They  live 
very  nicely,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  your  sisters  will 
be  happy  there." 

Sarah  had  drawn  Jeannie  to  her,  and  was  telling  her  of  the 
rides  and  walks  they  would  take  together,  the  ducks  and 
chickens  they  would  feed,  and  the  merry  plunges  in  the  salt 
water  that  were  to  be  daily  luxuries.  Ere  the  recital  was 
concluded,  the  child  was  impatient  for  the  hour  of  departure, 
and  indignant  when  she  heard  that  Aunt  Sarah  must  be 


42  HUSKS. 

heard  from  before  they  could  venture  to  present  themselves, 
bag  and  baggage,  at  her  door.  There  was  nothing  feigned 
in  Sarah's  satisfaction ;  her  preparations  were  made  with  far 
more  pleasure  than  if  she  were  to  accompany  Lucy.  The 
seclusion  that  would  have  been  slow  death  to  the  latter  was 
full  of  charms  for  the  book-loving  sister.  Aunt  Sarah  would 
be  kind ;  the  novel  phases  of  human  nature  she  would  meet 
would  amuse  and  interest  her ;  and,  besides  these,  there  was 
Jeannie  to  love  and  pet,  and  river,  field,  and  grove  for  stud 
ies  and  society.  She  panted  for  the  country  and  liberty 
from  the  tyrannous  shackles  of  city  customs. 

Aunt  Sarah  wrote  promptly  and  cordially,  rejecting  the 
offered  compensation,  and  begging  for  her  nieces'  company 
as  long  as  they  could  content  themselves  in  so  retired  a  place. 
Simple-minded  as  she  was,  she  knew  enough  to  be  sure  that 
the  belles  and  beaux  of  the  neighborhood  would  be  very  un 
suitable  mates  for  her  expected  visitors.  If  her  own  girls 
had  lived,  she  would  have  asked  nothing  higher  for  them  in 
this  world  than  to  have  them  grow  up  respected,  beloved, 
and  happy,  among  the  acquaintances  and  friends  of  their 
parents  ;  but  "  Sister  Betsy's  children  had  been  raised  so  dif 
ferently  !"  she  said  to  her  husband.  "  I  don't  know  what  we 
will  do  to  amuse  them." 

"  They  will  find  amusement — never  fear,"  was  the  farmer's 
response.  "  Let  city  folks  alone  for  seeing  wonders  where 
those  that  have  lived  among  them  all  their  lives  never  found 
any  thing  uncommon.  They  are  welcome  to  the  pony  when 
ever  they've  a  mind  to  ride,  and  Jim  or  I  will  find  time  to 
drive  them  around  a'most  every  day ;  and  what  with  riding, 
and  boating,  and  bathing,  I  guess  they  can  get  rid  of  the 
time." 

Before  the  day  set  for  the  coming  of  the  guests  there  ap 
peared  upon  the  stage  an  unexpected  and  welcome  ally  to 
Aunt  Sarah's  benevolent  design  of  making  her  nieces'  sojourn 


HTTSKS.  43 

agreeable.  This  personage  we  will  let  the  good  woman  her 
self  describe. 

"You  needn't  trouble  yourself  to  fix  up  for  tea,  dear," 
she  said  to  Sarah,  the  afternoon  of  her  arrival,  as  she  pre 
pared  to  remove  her  travelling-dress.  "There's  nobody 
here  besides  husband,  and  me,  and  Charley,  except  hus 
band's  nephew,  Philip  Benson,  from  the  South.  He  comes 
North  'most  every  summer,  and  never  goes  back  without 
paying  us  a  visit.  He's  been  here  three  days  now.  But  he 
is  just  as  easy  as  an  old  shoe,  and  sociable  as  can  be,  so  you 
won't  mind  him." 

"  Uncle  Benson  has  relatives  at  the  South,  then  ?"  said 
Sarah,  seeing  herself  called  upon  to  say  something. 

"One  brother — James.  He  went  to  Georgy  when  he 
wasn't  more  than  sixteen  years  old,  and  has  lived  there  ever 
since.  He  married  a  rich  wife,  I  believe," — sinking  her  voice 
— "  and  has  made  money  fast,  I've  heard.  Philip  never  says 
a  word  about  their  wealth,  but  his  father  owns  a  great  plan 
tation,  for  husband  asked  him  how  many  acres  they  worked. 
Then  the  children — there  are  four  of  them — have  had  fine 
educations,  and  always  spend  money  freely.  Philip  is  not 
the  sort  to  boast  of  any  thing  that  belongs  to  him  or  his. 
He  is  a  good-hearted  boy.  He  was  here  the  August  my 
last  daughter — my  Betsy — died,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
how  kind  and  tender  he  was  then.  I  can't  look  at  him  with 
out  thinking  how  my  Alick  would  have  been  just  his  age  if 
he  had  lived.  One  was  born  on  the  fourth  and  the  other 
the  fifth  of  the  same  April." 

Keeping  up  a  decent  show  of  interest  in  these  family  de 
tails,  Sarah  divested  Jeannie  of  her  sacque  and  dress,  and 
substituted  a  cool  blue  gingham  and  a  muslin  apron.  Then, 
as  the  child  was  wild  to  run  out  of  doors,  she  suffered  her 
to  go,  charging  her  not  to  pass  the  boundary  of  the  yard 
fence.  Aunt  Sarah  was  dressed  in  a  second  mourning  de 


4A  HUSKS. 

laine;  with  a  very  plain  cap,  and  while  the  heat  obliged 
Sarah  to  lay  aside  the  thick  and  dusty  garment  she  had 
worn  all  day,  she  had  too  much  tact  to  offer  a  strong  con 
trast  in  her  own  attire  to  her  unpretending  surroundings. 
A  neat  sprigged  lawn,  modest  and  inexpensive,  was  not  out 
of  place  among  the  old-fashioned  furniture  of  her  chamber, 
nor  in  the  "  best  room,"  to  which  they  presently  descended. 

Aunt  Sarah  ushered  her  into  the  apartment  with  some 
stiffness  of  ceremony.  In  truth,  she  was  not  herself  there 
often,  or  long  enough  to  feel  quite  at  ease,  her  property 
though  it  was.  Alleging  the  necessity  of  "seeing  to  the 
tea,"  she  bade  her  niece  "make  herself  at  home,"  threw 
open  a  blind  that  she  "  might  see  the  river,"  and  left  her. 

First,  Sarah  looked  around  the  room.  It  was  large  and 
square,  and  had  four  windows,  two  in  front  and  two  in  the 
rear.  The  floor  was  covered  by  a  well-saved  carpet,  of  a 
pattern  so  antique  that  it  was  in  itself  a  curiosity;  heavy 
tables  of  a  mahogany  dark  with  age ;  upright  chairs,  with 
slippery  leathern  seats ;  a  ponderous  sofa,  covered  with  hair 
cloth  ;  small  mirrors,  with  twisted  frames,  between  the  win 
dows  ;  two  black  profiles,  of  life-size,  over  the  mantel,  and 
in  the  fire  place  a  jar  of  asparagus  boughs,  were  appoint 
ments  that  might  have  repelled  the  looker-on,  but  for  the 
scrupulous,  shining  cleanliness  of  every  article.  It  was  a 
scene  so  strange  to  Sarah  that  she  could  not  but  smile  as 
she  withdrew  her  eyes  and  turned  to  the  landscape  com 
manded  by  her  window. 

The  sight  changed  the  gleam  of  good-humored  amuse 
ment  to  one  of  more  heartfelt  pleasure.  Beyond  the  grassy 
walks  and  flower-borders  of  the  garden  behind  the  house  lay 
green  meadows,  sloping  down  to  the  river,  broad  and  smooth 
at  this  point,  so  placid  now  that  it  mirrored  every  rope  and 
seam  of  the  sails  resting  quietly  upon  its  surface,  and  the 
white  cottages  along  the  banks,  while  the  banks  themselves, 


HUSKS.  45 

with  their  tufts  and  crowns  of  foliage,  drooping  willows  and 
lofty  elms,  found  a  faithful  yet  a  beautified  counterpart  in 
the  stream.  The  reflected  blush  of  the  crimson  west  upon 
its  bosom  was  shot  with  flickers  of  golden  light,  and  faded 
in  the  distance  into  the  blue-gray  twilight.  The  air  seemed 
to  grow  more  deliciously  cool  as  the  gazer  thought  of  the 
hot,  pent-up  city,  and  the  beds  of  thyme  and  lavender  added 
their  evening  incense. 

The  hum  of  cheerful  voices  joined  pleasantly  with  the 
soothing  influences  of  the  hour,  and,  changing  her  position 
slightly,  Sarah  beheld  the  speakers.  Upon  a  turfy  mound, 
at  the  foot  of  an  apple-tree,  sat  Jeannie  beside  a  gentleman, 
whose  hands  she  watched  with  pleased  interest,  as  did  also 
a  boy  of  fifteen  or  thereabouts,  who  knelt  on  the  grass 
before  them.  Sarah  divined  at  once  that  this  was  her  aunt's 
deaf  and  dumb  son.  The  gentleman  was  apparently  inter 
preting  to  Jeannie  all  that  passed  between  himself  and  the 
lad,  and  her  gleeful  laugh  showed  it  to  be  a  lively  dia 
logue.  Could  this  be  Mr.  Benson's  nephew,'  the  beardlese 
youth  Sarah  had  pictured  him  to  herself  from  Aunt  Sarah's 
description?  He  could  not  have  been  less  than  six-and- 
twenty,  had  dark  hair  and  a  close,  curling  beard,  an  intelli 
gent,  handsome  face,  and  notwithstanding  his  loose  summer 
sack  and  lounging  attitude,  one  discerned  plainly  traces  of 
uncommon  grace  and  strength  in  his  form. 

"What  is  he,  I  wonder?  A  gallant  professional  beau, 
who  will  entangle  me  in  my  speech,  and  be  an  inevitable 
appendage  in  the  excursions  ?  I  flattered  myself  I  would 
be  safe  from  all  such  drawbacks,"  thought  Sarah,  in  genuine 
vexation,  as  she  obeyed  .her  aunt's  summons  to  tea. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Benson  read  as  much  in  her  countenance,  for, 
beyond  a  few  polite,  very  unremarkable  observations,  ad 
dressed  to  her  when  his  hosts  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
do  so,  he  paid  her  no  visible  attention  during  the  whole 


46  HUSKS. 

evening.     The  next  day  lie  set  off,  the  minute  breakfast  was 
over,  with  his  gun  and  game-bag,  and  was  gone  until  sunset. 

Sarah  sat  at  her  chamber  window  as  he  came  up  to  the 
back  door ;  and,  screened  by  the  vine  trained  over  the  sash, 
she  watched  him  as  he  tossed  his  game-bag  to  Charley  and 
shook  hands  with  Jeannie,  who  ran  up  to  him  with  the  fa 
miliarity  of  an  old  acquaintance. 

"  What  luck  ?"  questioned  his  uncle. 

"  Nothing  to  boast  of,  sir ;  yet  enough  to  repay  me  for  my 
tramp.  I  have  been  down  to  the  shore." 

"  Philip  Benson !  Well,  you  beat  every  thing !  I  suppose 
you  have  walked  as  much  as  ten  miles  in  all !"  exclaimed 
Aunt  Sarah,  with  a  sort  of  reproachful  admiration. 

"  I  dare  say,  madam,  and  am  none  the  worse  for  it  to 
night.  I  am  getting  used  to  your  sand,  uncle ;  it  used  to 
tire  me,  I  confess." 

He  disappeared  into  the  kitchen,  probably  to  perform  the 
ablutions  needful  after  his  day's  walk  and  work,  for  it  was 
several  minutes  before  he  returned.  Charley  had  carried 
the  game-bag  to  the  mound  under  the  tree,  and  was  exhibit 
ing  its  contents — mostly  snipe  and  red- winged  black  birds — 
to  his  little  cousin. 

"  It  is  refreshing  to  see  something  in  the  shape  of  man 
that  is  neither  an  effeminate  dandy  nor  a  business  machine," 
soliloquized  Sarah.  "  Ten  miles  on  foot !  How  I  would  like 
to  set  that  task  for  certain  of  our  Broadway  exquisites !" 

"  She  isn't  a  bit  like  a  city  girl !"  Aunt  Sarah  was  saying, 
as  she  followed  Philip  into  the  outer  air. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  she  is  likely  to  be  a  nice  compan 
ion  for  you,  madam.  I  thought,  from  her  appearance,  that 
you  would  suit  each  other,"  was  the  reply,  certainly  respect 
ful  enough,  but  whose  lurking  accent  of  dry  indifference  sent 
the  blood  to  Sarah's  face. 
Hastily  withdrawing  from  the  open  window,  and  beyond 


HUSKS.  47 

the  reach  of  the  voices  that  discussed  her  merits,  she  waited 
to  recover  equanimity  before  going  down-stairs.  In  vain 
she  chided  herself  for  her  sudden  heat.  Mortified  she  was, 
and  even  more  ashamed  of  herself  than  angry  with  the  cool 
young  man  who  had  pronounced  her  to  be  a  fitting  associate 
for  her  excellent  but  unpolished  aunt.  While  his  every  look 
and  intonation  bespoke  the  educated  gentleman,  a  being  as 
different  in  mental  as  in  physical  muscle  from  the  fops  who 
formed  her  sister's  train,  had  he  weighed  her  against  the  re 
fined  woman  of  his  own  class  and  clime,  and  adjudged  her 
this  place  ?  At  heart  she  felt  the  injustice,  and,  stimulated 
by  the  sting,  arose  the  resolve  that  he  should  learn  and  con 
fess  his  error.  Not  tamely  or  willingly  would  she  accept  an 
ignoble  station  at  the  hands  of  one  whom  she  inwardly  rec 
ognized  as  capable  of  a  true  valuation  of  what  she  esteemed 
worthy. 

She  looked  haughty,  not  humbled,  when  she  took  her  seat 
opposite  her  critic  at  the  tea-table.  "  A  nice  companion," 
she  was  saying  over  to  herself.  The  very  phrase,  borrowed, 
as  it  was,  from  Aunt  Sarah's  vocabulary,  seemed  to  her 
seasoned  with  contempt.  She  kept  down  fire  and  scorn, 
however,  when  Mr.  Benson  accosted  her  with  the  tritest  of 
remarks  upon  the  probable  heat  of  the  day  in  town  as  con 
trasted  with  the  invigorating  breeze,  with  its  faint,  delicious 
sea  flavor,  that  rustled  the  grapevines  and  fluttered  the 
white  curtains  at  the  dining-room  door  and  windows.  Her 
answer  was  not  exactly  gracious,  but  it  advanced  the  one 
tempting  step  beyond  a  mere  reply. 

Thus  was  the  ice  brokenv  and  for  the  rest  of  the  meal, 
Aunt  Sarah  and  "Uncle  Nathan" — as  he  requested  his 
nieces  to  style  him — had  respite  from  the  duty  of  active  en 
tertainment,  so  far  as  conversation  went.  To  Sarah's  sur 
prise,  Mr.  Benson  talked  to  her  almost  as  he  would  have 
'done  to[anoth"erjman.  He  spoke  of  notable  persons,  places, 


4:8  HUSKS. 

and  books — things  of  which  she  had  heard  and  read — with 
out  affectation  of  reserve  or  a  shade  of  pretension ;  and  to 
her  rejoinder* — brief  and  constrained  for  awhile — then,  as 
she  forgot  herself  in  her  subject,  pertinent,  earnest,  salient, 
he  gave  more  than  courteous  heed.  It  was  the  unaffected 
interest  of  an  inquirer ;  the  entire  attention  of  one  who  felt 
that  he  received  more  than  he  gave. 

They  parted  for  the  night  with  a  bow  and  a  smile  that 
was  with  each  a  mute  acknowledgment  of  pleasure  derived 
from  the  companionship  of  the  other ;  and  if  neither  looked 
forward  to  the  meeting  of  the  morrow  as  a  renewal  of  con 
genial  intercourse,  both  carried  to  their  rest  the  effects  of 
an  agreeable  surprise  in  the  events  of  the  evening. 


HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

A  WEEK  had  passed  since  the  arrival  of  the  city  nieces  at 
the  farmhouse.  An  early  tea,  one  of  Aunt  Sarah's  generous 
and  appetizing  repasts  was  over ;  and  through  the  garden, 
out  at  the  gate'  that  terminated  the  middle  walk,  and  across 
the  strip  of  meadow-land,  danced  Charley  and  Jeannie,  fol 
lowed  at  a  more  sedate  pace  by  Philip  Benson  and  Sarah. 
Seven  days'  rustication  had  wrought  a  marked  change  in 
the  town-bred  girl.  There  was  a  lighter  bound  in  her  step, 
and  in  her  cheek  a  clear,  pink  glow,  while  her  eyes  looked 
softly,  yet  brightly,  from  out  the  shadow  of  her  gypsy  hat, 
a  look  of  half  surprise,  half  confidence  in  her  companion's 
face. 

"  One  week  ago,"  he  was  saying,  "how  firmly  I  made  up 
my  mind  that  you  and  I  could  never  be  any  thing  but 
strangers  to  each  other !  How  I  disliked  you  for  coming 
down  here  to  interfere  with  my  liberty  and  leisure  !" 

"  But  even  then  you  thought  that  I  would  prove  a  '  nice 
companion  for  Aunt  Sarah — '  perceived  my  suitableness  to 
her  society,"  was  the  demure  reply. 

"  Who  told  you  that  I  said  so  ?" 

"Not  Aunt  Sarah  herself,  although  she  considered  it 
honest  praise.  I  overheard  it  accidentally  from  my  window, 
and  I  can  assure  you  properly  appreciated  the  compliment, 
which,  by  the  way,  was  more  in  the  tone  than  the 
words." 

"  And  you  were  thereby  piqued  to  a  different  style  of 
3 


50  HUSKS. 

behavior.  Bravo!  did  ever  another  seed  so  worthless 
bring  forth  so  rich  a  harvest  ?  I  am  glad  I  said  it !  Here 
is  the  boat." 

It  was  a  pretty  little  affair — Charley's  property  and  care, 
and  he  was  already  in  his  seat  at  the  bow,  oar  in  hand. 
Philip  helped  Sarah  in,  placed  Jeannie  beside  her,  and  sta 
tioning  himself  upon  the  middle  bench  took  up  a  second  pair 
of  oars.  A  noiseless  dip  of  the  four,  and  the  craft  glided 
out  into  the  stream,  then  up  against  the  tide,  the  water  rip- 
ling  into  a  foamy  wake  on  either  side  of  the  sharp  bow.  A 
row  was  now  the  regular  sequel  to  the  day's  enjoyments, 
and  to  Jeannie,  at  least,  the  climax  of  its  pleasures. 

"  Pull  that  way,  please,  Mr.  Benson !"  she  cried.  "  There ! 
right  through  that  beautiful  red  water !" 

A  skilful  sweep  brought  them  to  the  spot  designated,  but 
the  crimson  deserted  the  wave  as  they  neared  it,  and  left 
dull  gray  in  its  stead. 

"  It  is  too  bad !"  complained  the  child,  pointing  back  to 
the  track  of  their  boat,  quivering  amidst  the  fickle  radiance 
she  had  thought  to  reach  by  this  change  of  course.  "  It  is 
behind  us  and  before  us — everywhere  but  where  we  are !" 

"  Is  there  a  moral  in  that  ?"  questioned  Philip,  smiling  at 
Sarah. 

"  Perhaps  so." 

A  fortnight  before,  how  assured  would  have  been  her 
reply !  How  gloomy  her  recognition  of  the  analogy ! 
Changed  as  was  her  mood,  a  shade  fell  over  her  counten 
ance.  Was  it  of  apprehension,  and  did  Philip  thus  interpret 
it? 

"  I  could  not  love  life  and  this  fair  world  as  I  do,  if  I 
conceded  this  to  be  universally  true,"  he  said.  "  That  there 
comes,  sometimes,  a  glory  to  the  present,  beside  which  the 
hues  of  past  and  future  fade  and  are  forgotten,  I  must  and 
will  believe.  Such,  it  seems  to  me,  must  be  the  rapture  of 


H  TJ  S  KS.  51 

reciprocal  and  acknowledged  affection ;  the  joy  of  reunion 
after  long  separation  from  the  beloved  one;  the  bliss  of 
reconciliation  after  estrangement.  Have  you  ever  thought 
how  much  happier  we  would  be  if  we  were  to  live  only  in 
the  Now  we  have,  and  never  strain  our  eyes  with  search- 
ings  for  the  lights  and  shades  of  what  may  be  before  us,  or 
with  c  mournful  looking'  after  what  is  gone  ?" 

"  Yet  is  this  possible  ?"  asked  Sarah,  earnestly.  "  Does 
not  the  very  constitution  of  our  natures  forbid  it  ?  To  me 
that  would  be  a  miserably  tame,  dead-level  existence  over 
which  Hope  sheds  no  enchanting  illusions ;  like  this  river, 
as  we  saw  it  three  days  ago,  cold  and  sombre  as  the  rain- 
clouds  that  hung  above  it.  Oh,  no  !  give  me  anything  but 
the  chill,  neutral  tint  of  such  a  life  as  thousands  are  content 
to  lead — people  who  expect  nothing,  fear  nothing — I  had 
almost  said,  feel  nothing  !" 

"  That  is  because  every  principle  of  your  being  is  at  war 
with  common-places.  Tell  me  frankly,  Miss  Sarah,  did  you 
ever  meet  another  woman  who  had  as  much  character  as 
yourself?" 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  understand  the  full  bearing  of 
your  question."  She  leaned  on  the  side  of  the  boat,  her 
hand  playing  in  the  water,  her  lips  working  in  an  irresolute 
timidity  that  was  oddly  at  variance  with  their  habitual  firm 
ness. 

"I  am  aware,"  she  began,  slowly  and  gravely,  "that  I 
express  myself  too  strongly  at  times ;  that  I  am  more  ab 
rupt  in  language  and  action  than  most  other  girls.  I  have 
always  been  told  so  ;  but  it  is  .natural  to  me.  My  charac 
ter  has  many  rough  and  sharp  edges  that  need  softening 
and  rounding — " 

"  In  order  to  render  you  one  of  the  pretty  automatons, 
the  well-draped,  thoroughly-oiled  pieces  of  human  clock 
work  that  decorates  men's  homes — falsely  so  called — in  these 


52  HUSKS. 

days  of  gloss  and  humbug !"  interrupted  Philip  with  ener 
gy.  "  I  am  sick  to  death  of  the  dollish  c  sweet  creatures' 
every  boarding-school  turns  out  by  the  score.  I  understand 
all  the  wires  that  work  the  dear  puppets — natter  myself  that 
I  can  put  them  through  their  paces  (excuse  the  slang !)  in  as 
short  a  time  as  any  other  man  of  my  age  in  the  country. 
The  delightful  divinities  !  A  little  music,  and  a  little  less 
French ;  a  skimming  of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and  it  is  a 
rare  thing  to  meet  one  who  can  tell  an  art  from  a  science 
ten  days  after  she  has  graduated — a  stock  of  pet  phrases — 
all  hyperbolical,  consequently  unmeaning — a  glib  utterance 
of  the  same ;  a  steady  devotion  to  balls,  beau-catching, 
gossip,  and  fancy-work;  voilcl  the  modern  fine  lady — the 
stuff  we  are  expected  to  make  wives  of !  Wives !  save  the 
mark !  I  never  think  of  the  possibility  of  being  thus  en 
snared  without  an  involuntary  repetition  of  a  portion  of 
the  Litany — '  From  all  such,  etc.,  etc. !'  " 

He  plied  his  oars  with  renewed  activity  for  a  moment, 
then  suspended  them  to  continue,  in  a  softer  tone  :  "  And 
this  is  the  representative  woman  of  your  Utopia,  Miss 
Sarah  ?" 

"Did  I  intimate,  much  less  assert,  such  a  heresy?"  re 
sponded  she,  laughing.  "  But  there  is  a  golden  mean  some 
where — a  union  of  gentleness  and  energy  ;  of  domestic  and 
literary  taste;  of  independence  and  submission.  I  have 
seen  such  in  my  day  dreams.  She  is  my  ideal." 

"Which  you  will  one  day  embody.  No  reproachful 
looks !  This  is  the  sincerity  of  a  friend.  I  have  promised 
never  to  natter  you  again,  and  do  not  violate  the  pledge  in 
speaking  thus.  From  my  boyhood,  I  have  made  human 
nature  my  study,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  convince  me  that 
I  err  in  this  case." 

"  You  do  !  indeed  you  do  !"  exclaimed  Sarah,  with  a  look 
of  real  pain.  "I  lack  the  first  characteristic  of  the  portrait 


HUSKS. 


53 


I  have  drawn.  I  am  not  gentle  !  I  ne^«*r  was.  I  fear  that 
I  never  will  be  !" 

"Let  us  hear  a  competent  witness  on  that  head.  Jean- 
nie  !"  to  the  child,  who  was  busy  spelling  on  her  fingers  to 
Charley;  his  nods  and  smiles  to  her,  from  the  far  end  of 
the  boat,  being  more  intelligible  to  her  than  were  her  at 
tempts  to  signal  her  meaning  to  him.  "  Jeannie !"  repeated 
Philip,  as  he  caught  her  eye.  "  Come,  and  whisper  in  my 
ear  which  of  your  sisters  you  love  the  best.  Maybe  I  won't 
tell  tales  out  of  school  to  the  one  you  care  least  for." 

"  I  don't  care  who  knows !"  said  the  saucy,  but  affection 
ate  child.  "  Sis'  Lucy  is  the  prettiest,  and  she  never  scolds 
me  either;  but  she  doesn't  make  my  clothes,  and  tell  me 
nice  stories,  and  help  me  with  my  lessons,  and  all  that,  you 
know.  She  isn't  my  dear,  best  sister !"  And,  springing  up 
suddenly,  the  threw  her  arms  around  Sarah's  neck,  with  a 
kiss  that  answered  the  question  with  emphasis. 

Sarah's  lip  trembled.  The  share  of  affection  she  had 
hitherto  dared  to  claim  as  her  own  had  barely  sufficed  to 
keep  her  heart  from  starving  outright.  She  had  often 
dreamed  of  fulness  of  love  as  a  stay  and  comfort,  as  solace 
and  nutriment  in  a  world  whose  wrong  side  was  ever  turned 
to  her.  Now  there  dawned  upon  her  the  sweetness  and 
beauty  of  a  new  revelation,  the  bliss  of  loving  and  being 
beloved.  Over  life  floated  a  warm,  purple  tinge,  like  the 
sunset  light  upon  the  river.  For  the  first  time  within  the 
reach  of  her  memory  her  heart  rested  ! 

In  the  smile  whose  overflowing  gave  a  tender  loveliness 
to  her  features,  Philip  saw  the  effect  he  had  wished  and 
anticipated,  and,  motioning  to  Charley  to  let  the  boat  drift 
with  the  current,  he  picked  up  the  guitar,  that  by  Sarah's 
request  was  always  taken  along  in  these  excursions. 

"The  dew  is  on  the  blossom, 

And  the  young  moon  on  the  sea  j 


54  HUSKS. 

It  is  the  twilight  hour — 

The  hour  for  you  and  me  ; 
The  time  when  memory  lingers 

Across  life's  dreary  track, 
"When  the  past  floats  up  before  us, 

And  the  lost  comes  stealing  back." 

It  was  a  love  song,  inimitable  in  its  purity  and  tenderness, 
with  just  the  touch  of  sadness  that  insured  its  passage  to 
the  heart.  Sarah's  smile  was  softer,  but  it  was  a  smile  still, 
as  the  melody  arose  on  the  quiet  air.  When  the  ballad  was 
concluded,  she  only  said ;  "  Another,  please !" 

Philip  sang  more  than  well.  Without  extraordinary 
power,  his  voice  had  a  rich  and  flexible  quality  of  tone  and 
a  delicacy  of  expression  that  never  failed  to  fascinate.  To 
the  rapt  and  listening  girl  it  seemed  as  if  time  could  bring 
no  more  delicious  fate  than  thus  to  glide  on  ever  upon  this 
empurpled,  enchanted  stream,  the  summer  heavens  above 
her,  and,  thrilling  ear  and  soul,  the  witching  lullaby  that 
rocked  her  spirit  to  dreams  of  the  youth  she  had  never  had, 
the  love  for  which  she  had  longed  with  all  the  wild  intensi 
ty,  the  fervent  yearning,  her  deep  heart  could  feel. 

Still  they  floated  on  with  the  receding  tide,  its  low  wash 
ing  against  the  sides  of  their  boat  filling  up  the  pauses  of  the 
music.  The  burning  red  and  gold  of  the  sky  cooled  into 
the  mellower  tints  of  twilight,  and  the  pale  curve  of  the 
young  moon  shone  with  increasing  lustre.  Jeannie  fell 
asleep,  her  head  upon  her  sister's  lap ;  the  dumb  boy  sat 
motionless  as  stone,  his  dark  eyes  fixed  on  the  moon ;  there 
seemed  some  spell  upon  the  little  party.  Boat  after  boat 
passed  them,  almost  noiselessly,  for  far  into  the  clear  evening 
went  the  tones  of  the  singer's  voice,  and  the  dullest  hearer 
could  not  withhold  the  tribute  of  admiring  silence  until  be 
yond  its  reach. 

And  Sarah,  happy  in  the  strange,  restful  languor  that 
locked  her  senses  to  all  except  the  blessed  present,  dreamed 


HUSKS.  55 

on,  the  music  but  a  part  of  her  ideal  world,  this  new  and 
beautiful  life.  Into  it  stole  presently  a  theme  of  sadness,  a 
strain  of  grief,  a  heart-cry,  that,  ere  she  was  aware,  wrung 
her  own  heart-strings  with  anguish. 

"  The  long,  long,  weary  day 

Is  passed  in  tears  away, 
And  still  at  evening  I  am  weeping. 
When  from  my  window's  height 
I  look  out  on  the  night, 
I  am  still  weeping, 
My  lone  watch  keeping. 

"  "When  I,  his  truth  to  prove, 

Would  trifle  with  my  love, 
He'd  say,  'For  me  thou  wilt  be  weeping, 
When,  at  some  future  day, 
I  shall  be  far  away ; 
Thou  wilt  be  weeping, 
Thy  lone  watch  keeping.' 

"  Alas  I  if  land  or  sea 

Had  parted  him  from  me, 
I  would  not  these  sad  tears  be  weeping ; 
But  hope  he'd  come  once  more, 
And  love  me  as  before ; 
And  say,  '  Cease  weeping, 
Thy  lone  watch  keeping.' 

"  But  he  is  dead  and  gone, 

Whose  heart  was  mine  alone, 
And  now  for  him  I'm  sadly  weeping. 
His  face  I  ne'er  shall  see, 
And  naught  is  left  to  me 
But  bitter  weeping, 
My  lone  watch  keeping." 

If  ever  a  pierced  and  utterly  hopeless  soul  poured  forth 
its  plaint  in  musical  measure,  it  was  in  the  wondrously  sim 
ple  and  unspeakably  plaintive  air  to  which  these  words  are 


56 


set.  There  breathes  in  it  a  spirit  wail  so  mournfully  sincere 
that  one  recognizes  its  sob  in  the  very  chords  of  the  accom 
paniment.  The  mere  murmur  of  the  melody,  were  no  words 
uttered,  tells  the  story  of  grieving  desolation. 

Sarah  did  not  move  or  speak,  yet  upon  her  enchanted 
ground  a  cloud  had  fallen.  She  saw  the  high  casement  and 
its  tearful  gazer  into  the  night,  a  night  not  of  music,  and 
moonlight,  and  love,  but  chill,  and  wet,  and  dreary.  Rain 
dripped  from  eaves  and  trees ;  stone  steps  and  pavements 
caught  a  ghastly  gleam  from  street  lamps ;  save  that  sorrow 
ful  watcher,  there  was  no  living  creature  abroad  or  awake. 
She  grew  cold  and  sick  with  looking  into  those  despairing 
eyes ;  the  gloom,  the  loneliness,  the  woe  of  that  vigil  became 
her  own,  and  her  heart  sank  swooning  beneath  the  burden. 

As  she  ceased  the  song,  Philip  looked  up  for  some  com 
ment  or  request.  To  his  surprise,  she  only  clasped  her 
hands  in  a  gesture  that  might  have  been  either  relief  from 
or  abandonment  to  woe,  and  bowed  her  head  upon  them. 
Puzzled,  yet  nattered  by  her  emotion,  he  refrained  from  in 
terrupting  her ;  and,  resuming  his  oars,  lent  the  impetus  of 
their  stroke  to  that  of  the  tide.  Nothing  was  said  until  the 
keel  grated  upon  the  shelly  beach  opposite  the  farmhouse. 
Then,  as  Philip  stooped  to  lift  the  unconscious  Jeannie,  he 
imagined  that  he  discerned  the  gleam  of  the  sinking  moon 
upon  Sarah's  dripping  eyelashes. 

The  fancy  pursued  him  after  he  had  gone  up  to  his  room. 
Seated  at  his  window,  looking  out  upon  the  now  starlit  sky, 
he  smoked  more  than  one  cigar  before  his  musing  fit  was 
ended.  It  was  not  the  love-reverie  of  a  smitten  boy.  He 
believed  that  he  had  passed  that  stage  of  sentimentalism  ten 
years  before.  vThat  Southerner  of  the  male  gender  who  has 
not  been  consumed  by  the  fires  and  arisen  as  good  as  new 
from  the  ashes  of  half  a  dozen  never-dying  passions  before 
he  is  eighteen,  who  has  not  offered  the  heart  and  hand, 


HUSKS.  57 

which  as  often  as  otherwise  constitute  his  chiefest  earthly 
possessions,  tffsome  elect  fair  one  by  the  time  he  is  one-and- 
twenty,  is  voted  "  slow"  or  invulnerable:)  If  these  suscepti 
ble  sons  of  a  fervid  clime  did  not  take  to  love-making  as 
naturally  as  does  a  duckling  to  the  pond  by  the  time  the 
eggshell  is  fairly  off  of  its  head,  they  would  certainly  be  ini 
tiated  while  in  the  callow  state  by  the  rules  and  customs  of 
society.  Courtship  is  at  first  a  pastime,  then  an  art,  then 
when  the  earnestness  of  a  real  attachment  takes  hold  of  their 
impassioned  natures,  it  is  the  one  all-absorbing,  eager  pur 
suit  of  existence,  until  rewarded  by  the  acquisition  of  its  ob 
ject  or  thwarted  by  the  decided  refusal  of  the  hard-hearted 
Dulcinea. 

This  state  of  things,  this  code  of  Cupid,  every  Southern 
girl  understands,  and  shapes  her  conduct  accordingly. 
Sportively,  yet  warily,  she  plays  around  the  hook,  and  he  is 
a  very  fortunate  angler  who  does  not  in  the  moment  of  fan 
cied  success  discover  that  she  has  carried  off  the  bait  as  a 
trophy  upon  which  to  feed  her  vanity,  and  left  him  to  be 
the  laughing-stock  of  the  curious  spectators  of  this  double 
game.  She  is  imperturbable  to  meaning  equivoques,  receives 
pretty  speeches  and  tender  glances  at  their  current  value, 
and  not  until  the  suit  becomes  close  and  ardent,  the  attach 
ment  palpable  to  every  one  else,  and  is  confessed  in  so  many 
words,  does  she  allow  herself  to  be  persuaded  that  her 
adorer  is  "in  earnest,"  and  really  desires  to  awaken  a  sym 
pathetic  emotion  in  her  bosom. 

Philip  Benson  was  no  wanton  trifler  with  woman's  feel 
ings.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  gained  the  reputation  in  his 
circle  of  an  invincible,  indifferent  looker-on  of  the  pseudo 
and  real  combats,  in  Love's  name,  that  were  continually 
transpiring  around  him.  Chivalrous  in  tone,  gallant  in  ac 
tion,  as  he  was,  the  girls  feared  while  they  liked  and  admired 
him.  They  called,  him  critical,  fastidious,  cold;  and 
3* 


58  HUSKS. 

ingly  wondered  why  he  persisted  in  going  into  company,, 
that,  judging  the  future  by  the  past,  was  so^fhlikely  to  fur 
nish  him.  with  the  consort  he  must  be  seeking.  In  reality, 
he  was  what  he  had  avowed  himself  to  Sarah — a  student  of 
human  nature ;  an  amateur  in  this  species  of  social  research 
— than  which  no  other  so  frequently  results  in  the  complete 
deception  of  the  inquirer.  Certainly  no  other  is  so  apt  to 
find  its  culmination  of  devotion  in  a  cold-blooded  dissection 
of  motive,  morals,  and  sentiment ;  an  unprincipled,  reckless 
application  of  trial  and  test  to  the  hearts  and  lives  of  its  vic 
tims  and  final  infidelity  in  all  human  good,  except  what  is 
concentrated  in  the  inspector's  individual,  personal  self. 
Grown  dainty  amid  the  abundant  supply  of  ordinary  mate 
rial,  he  comes  at  length  to  disdain  common  "  subjects." 
Still  less  would  he  touch  one  already  loathsome  in  the  popu 
lar  estimation,  through  excess  of  known  and  actual  crime. 
But  a  character  fresh  and  noble  from  the  Creator's  hand  ;  a 
soul  that  dares  to  think  and  feel  according  to  its  innate  sense 
of  right ;  an  intellect  unhackneyed,  not  vitiated  by  worldly 
policy  or  the  dogmas  of  the  schools ;  a  heart,  tender  and 
delicate — yet  passionate  in  love  or  abhorrence  ;  what  an  op 
portunity  is  here  presented  for  the  scalpel,  the  detective  acid, 
the  crucible,  the  microscope  !  It  is  not  in  fallible  mortality 
to  resist  the  temptation,  and  even  professors  of  this  en 
nobling  pursuit,  whose  motto  is,  "  The  proper  study  of  man 
kind  is  Man,"  are,  as  they  allow  with  shame  and  confusion 
of  face,  themselves  mortal.  Of  all  the  dignified  humbugs  of 
the  solemn  farce  of  life,  deliver  me  from  that  creature  self- 
styled  "  a  student  and  judge  of  character !" 

In  Sarah  Hunt,  Philip  discovered,  to  his  surprise,  a  rare 
"  specimen ;"  a  volume,  each  leaf  of  which  revealed  new 
matter  of  interest.  The  attentions  he  had  considered  him 
self  bound  to  pay  her,  in  order  to  avoid  wounding  their  kind 
hosts,  were  soon  rendered  from  a  widely  different  motive. 


HUSKS.  59 

It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  he  was  transcending  the  limits 
of  merely  friendly  courtesy,  as  prescribed  by  the  etiquette 
of  the  region  in  which  he  was  now  a  sojourner.  He  was  by 
no  means  deficient  in  appreciation  of  his  personal  gifts  ;  rated 
his  powers  of  pleasing  quite  as  highly  as  did  his  warmest 
admirers,  although  he  had  the  common  sense  and  tact  to 
conceal  this ;  but  he  would  have  repelled,  as  an  aspersion 
upon  his  honor,  the  charge  that  he  was  endeavoring  to  win 
this  young  girl's  affections,  his  heart  being  as  yet  un 
touched. 

"  Was  it  then  altogether  whole  ?"  he  asked  himself  to-night, 
with  a  coolness  that  should  have  been  an  immediate  reply  to 
the  suggestion. 

Side  by  side,  he  set  two  mental  portraits,  and  strove  de 
liberately,  impartially,  to  discern  any  traces  of  resemblance 
between  the  two.  The  future  Mrs.  Benson  was  a  personage 
that  engrossed  much  of  his  thoughts,  and  by  long  practice 
in  the  portrayal  of  her  lineaments,  he  had  brought  his  fancy 
sketch  very  nearly  to  perfection.  A  tall,  Juno-like  figure, 
with  raven  locks,  and  large,  melting  eyes,  unfathomable  as 
clear ;  features  of  classic  mould ;  an  elastic,  yet  stately  form  ; 
a  disposition  in  which  amiability  tempered  natural  impetu 
osity,  and  generous  impulse  gave  direction  to  gentle  word 
and  deed ;  a  mind  profoundly  imbued  with  the  love  of  learn 
ing,  and  in  cultivation,  if  not  strength,  equal  to  his  own ; 
discretion,  penetration,  and  docility  combined  in  such  pro 
portions  as  should  render  her  her  husband's  safest  counsellor, 
yet  willing  follower  ;  and  controlling  and  toning  the  har 
monious  whole,  a  devotion  to  himself  only  second  in  degree, 
not  inferior  in  quality,  to  worship  of  her  Creator.  This  was 
the  ideal  for  whose  embodiment  our  reasonable,  modest 
Coelebs  was  patiently  waiting.  Answer,  oh  ye  expectant,  in 
cipient  Griseldas !  who,  from  your  beauteous  ranks,  will  step 
into  the  prepared  niche,  and  make  the  goddess  a  reality  ? 


60  HUSKS. 

And  how  appeared  the  rival  picture  in  comparison  ? 

"  No,  no !"  he  ejaculated,  tossing  the  remnant  of  his  third 
cigar  into  the  garden.  "  I  must  seek  further  for  the  '  golden 
mean.'  Intellect  and  heart  are  here,  undoubtedly.  I  must 
have  beauty  and  grace  as  well.  Yet,"  he  continued,  relent- 
ingly,  "  there  are  times  when  she  would  be  quite  handsome 
if  she  dressed  better.  It  is  a  pity  her  love  for  the  beautiful 
does  not  enter  into  her  choice  of  wearing  apparel !" 

In  ten  minutes  more  he  was  asleep,  and  dreamed  that  he 
stood  at  the  altar  with  his  long  sought  ideal,  when,  as  the 
last  binding  words  were  spoken,  she  changed  to  Sarah  Hunt, 
arrayed  in  a  light  blue  lawn  of  last  year's  fashion,  that  made 
her  look  as  sallow  as  a  lemon,  and,  to  his  taste,  as  little  to 
be  desired  for  "  human  nature's  daily  food." 

Poor  Sarah  !  The  visionary  robe  was  a  faithful  reflection 
upon  the  dreamer's  mental  retina  of  a  certain  organdie 
which  had  formed  a  part  of  Lucy's  wardrobe  the  previous 
summer,  and  having  become  antiquated  in  six  months'  time, 
was  altogether  inadmissible  in  the  belle's  outfit  of  this  sea 
son. 

"  Yet  it  cost  an  awful  sum  when  it  was  new !"  reasoned 
Mrs.  Hunt,  "  and  will  make  you  a  very  useful  dress  while 
you  are  with  your  Aunt  Sarah.  It's  too  good  to  cut  up  for 
Jeannie !" 

"  But  the  color,  mother  ?"  objected  the  unwilling  re 
cipient. 

"Pooh!  who  will  notice  that?  Besides,  if  you  had  a 
good  complexion,  you  could  wear  blue  as  well  as  anybody." 

Sarah's  stock  of  thin  dresses  was  not  plentiful,  and,  re 
calling  this  observation,  she  coupled  it  with  the  fact  that  she 
was  growing  rosy,  and  dared  to  equip  herself  in  the  azure 
garment,  with  what  effect  she  did  not  dream  and  Mr.  Philip 
Benson  did! 


HUSKS.  61 


CHAPTER    V. 

ON  a  pleasant,  although  rather  cloudy  forenoon  in  July, 
our  young  pleasure-seekers  carried  into  execution  a  long- 
talked-of  expedition  to  the  Deal  Beach,  distant  about  ten 
miles  from  Shrewsbury. 

By  Aunt  Sarah's  arrangement,  Charley  and  Jeannie  oc 
cupied  the  back  seat  of  the  light  wagon,  and  Sarah  was  to 
sit  by  Philip  in  front,  that  she  "  might  see  the  country." 
Having  accomplished  this  apparently  artless  manoeuvre,  the 
good  woman  handed  up  to  them  a  portly  basket  of  luncheon, 
and  two  or  three  additional  shawls,  in  case  of  rain  or  change 
of  weather,  and  bade  the  gay  party  "  Good-by"  with  a 
satisfied  glow  in  heart  and  face.  To  her  guileless  apprehen 
sion  there  was  no  question  how  affairs  were  progressing 
between  her  niece  and  her  nephew-in-law ;  and  in  sundry 
conferences  on  the  subject  between  "husband"  and  herself, 
it  had  been  agreed  that  a  matrimonial  alliance  would  be  the 
best  thing  that  could  happen  to  either  of  the  supposed 
lovers.  In  her  simple,  pious  soul,  the  dear  old  lady  already 
blessed  the  Providence  that  had  accomplished  the  meeting 
and  intercourse  under  her  roof,  while  she  wondered  at  "the 
strange  things  that  come  about  in  this  world." 

Philip  had  been  aware  of  her  innocent  attempts  to  facili 
tate  his  suit  for  several  days  past,  and  Sarah's  blush,  as  she 
hesitated,  before  accepting  the  proffered  seat  by  the  driver, 
showed  that  this  move  wa£  so  transparent  as  to  convey  the 
alarm  to  her  also.  For  a  full  half  mile  Philip  did  not  speak, 


62  HUSKS. 

except  a  word  now  and  then  to  the  pair  of  stout  grays, 
who  were  Uncle  Nathan's  greatest  earthly  boast.  He  ap 
peared  thoughtful,  perhaps  perturbed — so  Sarah's  single 
stolen  glance  at  him  showed — and  in  the  eyes  that  looked 
straight  onward  to  the  horizon,  there  was  a  hardness  she 
had  never  seen  there  before.  She  was  surprised,  therefore, 
when  he  broke  the  silence  by  an  unimportant  observation, 
uttered  in  his  usual  friendly  tone,  and  for  the  remainder  of 
the  ride  was  gay  and  kind,  with  a  show  of  light-heartedness 
that  was  not  surpassed  by  the  merry  children  behind  them. 

There  was  hardly  enough  variety  in  the  unpicturesque 
country  bordering  their  route  to  give  the  shadow  of  reason 
ableness  to  Aunt  Sarah's  pretext  in  selecting  her  namesake's 
seat,  and,  despite  her  escort's  considerate  attentions,  Sarah 
had  an  uncomfortable  ride  ;  while  her  manner  evinced  more 
of  the  haughty  reserve  of  their  introduction  than  she  had 
shown  at  any  subsequent  stage  of  their  acquaintance.  The 
.grays  travelled  well,  and  a  little  after  noon  they  were  de 
tached  from  the  carriage,  and  tied  in  the  grove  of  scrub-oaks 
skirting  the  beach. 

While  Philip  was  busied  with  them,  the  others  continued 
their  course  down  to  the  shore ;  the  children,  hand-in-hand, 
skipping  over  sand-hills,  and  stopping  to  pick  up  stones ; 
Sarah  strolling  slowly  after  them.  She  had  seen  the  ocean- 
surf  before,  but  never  aught  like  this,  with  its  huge  swells 
of  water,  a  mile  in  length,  gathering  blackness  and  height 
on  their  landward  career ;  as  they  struck  the  invisible 
barrier  that  commanded,  "  Thus  far  and  no  farther !"  break 
ing  in  white  fury,  with  the  leap  of  a  baffled  fiend,  and  a 
roar  like  thunder,  against  their  resistless  opponent,  then 
recoiling,  sullenly,  to  gather  new  force  for  another,  and  as 
useless  an  attack.  The  beach  was  wide  and  uneven,  of 
sand,  whose  whiteness  would  have  glared  intolerably  had 
the  day  been  sunny,  drifted  into  hillocks  and  undulating 


HUSKS.  63 

ridges,  like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Here  and  there  the  hardy 
heather  found  a  foothold  amid  the  otherwise-blank  sterility, 
the  green  patches  adding  to,  rather  than  lessening  the  wild, 
desolate  aspect  of  the  tract.  Fragments  of  timber  were 
strewn  in  all  directions,  and  Sarah's  quick  eye  perceived 
that  it  was  not  formless,  chance  driftwood.  There  were 
hewn  beams  and  shapely  spars,  and  planks  in  which  great 
iron  bolts  were  still  fast.  When  Philip  overtook  her,  she 
was  standing  by  an  immense  piece  of  solid  wood,  lying  far 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  highest  summer  tides.  One  end  was 
buried  in  the  sand ;  the  other,  bleached  by  sun  and  wind, 
and  seamed  with  cracks,  was  curved  like  the  extremity  of  a 
bow.  Her  late  embarrassment  or  hauteur  was  forgotten  in 
the  direct  earnestness  of  her  appealing  look. 

"  Am  I  mistaken  ?"  she  said,  in  a  low,  awed  tone.  "  Is 
not  this  the  keel  of  a  ship  ?" 

"  It  is.     There  have  been  many  wrecked  on  this  coast." 

"  Here  !"  She  glanced  from  the  fierce,  bellowing  break 
ers  to  the  melancholy  testimonial  of  their  destructive  might. 
"  I  have  never  heard  that  this  was  esteemed  a  dangerous 
point." 

"  You  can  form  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  what  this  beach 
is  in  winter,"  remarked  Philip,  signing  to  her  to  seat  herself 
upon  the  sand,  and  throwing  himself  down  beside  her.  "  I 
was  here  once,  late  in  the  autumn,  and  saw  a  vessel  go  to 
pieces,  scarcely  a  stone's  throw  from  where  we  are  now  sit 
ting.  The  sea  was  high,  the  wind  blowing  a  perfect  gale, 
and  this  schooner,  having  lost  one  of  her  most  important 
sails,  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  elements.  She  was  cast  upon 
the  shore,  and  her  crew,  watching  their  opportunity,  sprang 
overboard  as  the  waves  receded,  and  reached  firm  ground 
in  safety.  Then  came  a  monster  billow,  and  lifting  the  ves 
sel  farther  upon  the  sand,  left  her  careened  towards  the  land. 
It  was  pitiful  to  see  the  poor  thing !  so  like  life  were  her 


64  HUSKS. 

shudders  and  groans,  as  the  cruel  surf  beat  against  her,  that 
my  heart  fairly  ached.  The  spray,  at  every  dash,  arose 
nearly  as  high  as  her  mast-head,  and  a  cataract  of  water 
swept  over  her  deck.  Piece  by  piece  she  broke  up, 
and  we  could  only  stand  and  look  on,  while  the  scattered 
portions  were  thrown  to  our  very  feet.  I  shah1  never  forget 
the  sight.  It  taught  me  the  truth  of  man's  impotence  and 
nature's  strength  as  I  had  never  read  it  before." 

"  But  there  were  no  lives  lost !  You  were  spared  the 
spectacle  of  that  most  terrible  scene  in  the  tragedy  of  ship 
wreck." 

"  Yes.  But  the  light  of  many  a  life  has  been  quenched 
in  that  raging  caldron.  A  young  man,  a  resident  of 
Shrewsbury,  with  whom  I  hunted  last  year,  described  to  me 
a  catalogue  of  horrors  which  he  had  beheld  here,  that  has 
visited  me  in  dreams  often  since.  An  emigrant  ship  was 
cast  away  on  this  coast,  in  midwinter.  High  above  the  roar 
of  the  wind  and  the  booming  surf,  was  heard  the  cry  of  the 
doomed  wretches,  perishing  within  hail  of  the  crowd  of 
fellow-beings  who  had  collected  at  news  of  the  catastrophe. 
The  cold  was  intense ;  mast,  and  sail,  and  rope  were  coated 
with  ice,  and  the  benumbed,  freezing  wretches  were  exposed 
every  instant  to  the  torrents  of  brine  that  swept  over  them 
like  sleet.  The  agony  was  horrible  beyond  description,  but 
it  was  soon  over.  Before  the  vessel  parted,  the  accent  of 
mortal  woe  was  hushed.  "Not  a  man  survived  to  tell  the 
tale!" 

For  an  hour,  they  sat  thus  and  talked.  The  subject  had, 
for  Sarah,  a  fearful  fascination,  and,  led  on  by  her  absorbed 
attention,  Philip  rehearsed  to  her  wonders  and  stories  of  the 
mysterious  old  ocean,  that  to-day  stretched  before  them, 
blanched  and  angry,  under  the  veil  of  summer  cloud,  until  to 
his  auditor  there  were  bitter  wailings  blent  with  the  surge's 
roar ;  arms,  strained  and  bare,  were  tossed  above  the  dark, 


/»t? 
HUSKS.  65 

serpent-like  swell  of  water,  in  unavailing  supplication,  and 
livid,  dead  faces  stared  upon  her  from  beneath  the  curling 
crests  of  the  breakers. 

That  day  on  the  Deal  Beach  !  How  quietly  happy  was  its 
seeming  !  how  full  of  event,  emotion,  fate — was  its  reality ! 
Charley  and  Jeannie  wandered  up  and  down  the  coast,  fill 
ing  their  baskets  with  shells  and  pebbles ;  chasing  the  re 
tiring  waves  as  far  as  they  dared,  and  scampering  back,  with 
shrieks  of  laughter,  as  the  succeeding  billow  rolled  rapidly 
after  them ;  building  sand-houses,  and  digging  wells  to  be 
filled  by  salt-water  ;  exulting  greatly  when  a  rough  coralline 
fragment,  or  a  jelly-fish  of  unusual  dimensions  was  thrown 
in  their  way.  They  all  lunched  together,  seated  upon  the 
heather-clumps,  around  Aunt  Sarah's  liberal  hamper. 

"Sister!"  said  Jeannie,  when  the  edge  of  her  sea-side 
appetite  was  somewhat  blunted  by  her  repast,  "  I  like  living 
here  better  than  in  New  York — don't  you  ?" 

"  It  is  more  pleasant  in  summer,  my  dear." 

"  But  I  mean  that  I  am  happier  here  !  I  wish  you  would 
write  to  mother,  and  ask  her  to  let  us  live  here  always." 

"  But  what  would  she  do  without  her  baby  ?"  asked  Phil 
ip,  emphasizing  the  last  word. 

The  little  lady  bridled  instantly. 

"  Cousin  Phil !  I  do  wish  you  would  never  call  me  a 
'baby'  again!  I  am  seven  years  and  two  weeks  old.  I 
could  get  along  very  well  without  mother  for  a  while.  Of 
course,  I  would  go  over  sometimes,  and  pay  her  a  visit  and 
get  new  dresses.  Shrewsbury  is  a  nice  place ;  I  would  like 
to  buy  that  pretty  white  house  next  to  Uncle  Nathan's,  and 
live  there — sister,  and  Charley,  and  I — and  you — if  you 
would  promise  not  to  tease  me  ever !" 

"  Thank  you !"  said  Philip,  with  admirable  gravity,  seem 
ing  not  to  note  Sarah's  heightened  color  at  this  proposal  of 
copartnership.  "  You  are  very  kind  to  include  me  in  your 


66  HUSKS. 

household  arrangements,  and  nothing  would  please  me  bet 
ter,  if  I  could  stay  here.  But  you  know,  Jeannie,  my  dear 
little  cousin,  that  my  home  is  far  away  from  this  quarter  of 
the  world.  I  have  remained  here  too  long  already."  There 
was  a  touch  of  feeling  or  nervousness  in  his  voice.  "  I  had 
a  letter  last  night,  reminding  me  that  I  ought  to  have  left  a 
week  ago,  to  join  a  party  of  friends,  whom  I  promised  to 
meet  in  New  York,  and  travel  with  them  until  the  time  for 
our  return  to  the  South." 

He  did  not  look  at  Sarah,  but  she  felt  that  the  explanation 
was  intended  for  her — that,  whether  intentionally  or  not,  he 
was  preparing  her  for  a  blow  to  heart  and  hope. 

"  I  shall  be  obliged  to  leave  Shrewsbury  and  all  my  friends 
there,  to-morrow  morning,  Jeannie  !" 

The  child's  exclamation  of  dismay,  and  Charley's  quick, 
mute  remonstrance  to  his  cousin,  as  his  playfellow  commu 
nicated  the  news  to  him,  gave  Sarah  time  to  rally  firmness 
and  words. 

"  This  is  unexpected  intelligence,"  she  said,  calmly.  "  We 
shall  miss  you.  Your  kindness  has,  directly  and  indirectly, 
been  the  means  of  affording  us  much  pleasure  during  our 
visit  to  our  good  aunt.  It  will  seem  dull  when  you  are 
gone." 

There  was  a  flash  in  Philip's  eye  that  looked  like  pleasure 
— a  mixture  of  relief  and  surprise,  as  he  turned  to  her. 

"  I  am  selfish  enough  to  hope  that  you  will  miss  me  for  a 
time,  at  least.  I  shall  not  then  be  so  soon  forgotten.  We 
have  had  some  pleasant  days  and  weeks  together ;  have  we 
not  ?" 

"  I  have  enjoyed  them,  assuredly." 

She  was  a  little  pale,  Philip  thought,  but  that  might  be 
the  effect  of  fatigue.  Her  cheek  was  seldom  blooming, 
unless  when  flushed  in  animated  speech,  or  by  brisk  exer 
cise.  She  spoke  of  his  going  with  politeness,  that  seemed 


HUSKS.  67 

scarce  one  remove  from  carelessness ;  and,  man-like,  his 
pleasure  at  the  thought  that  their  association  in  the  country 
house  had  not  been  followed  by  the  results  Aunt  Sarah 
wished  and  predicted,  gave  way  to  a  feeling  of  wounded 
vanity  and  vexation,  that  his  summer's  companion  could  re 
linquish  him  so  easily.  While  he  repeated  to  himself  his 
congratulations  that  his  friendly  and  gallant  attentions  had 
not  been  misconstrued,  had  not  awakened  any  inconvenient, 
because  futile  "  expectations,"  he  wondered  if  it  were  a  pos 
sibility  for  a  girl  of  so  much  sense  and  feeling,  such  genuine 
appreciation  of  his  talents  and  tastes,  to  know  him  well — 
even  intimately — without  experiencing  a  warmer  sentiment 
than  mere  approval  of  an  agreeable  associate's  mind  and 
manners,  and  Platonic  liking  for  him  on  these  accounts. 

With  the  respectful  familiarity  of  a  privileged  acquaint 
ance,  he  drew  her  hand  within  his  arm,  as  they  arose  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  collation. 

"  We  have  yet  two  hours  and  more  to  spend  here,  before 
we  set  out  for  home.  We  can  have  one  more  walk  and  talk 
together." 

They  took  but  one  turn  on  the  beach,  and  returning  to 
their  morning's  seat  beside  the  half-buried  keel,  tried  to  talk 
as  they  had  done  then.  '  It  was  hard  work,  even  to  the  man 
of  the  world,  the  heart-free  student  of  human  nature. 
Gradually  the  conversation  languished  and  died  away,  and, 
for  a  while,  both  sat  silent,  looking  out  upon  the  sea.  Then 
Philip's  gaze  came  back  to  his  companion — stealthily  at  first, 
and,  as  she  remained  unconscious  of  his  scrutiny,  it  lingered 
long  and  searchingly  upon  features,  form,  and  attire. 

There  were  white,  tight  lines  about  her  mouth,  and  a 
slight  knitting  of  the  brow,  that  imparted  a  care-worn  look 
to  the  young  face,  it  pained  him  to  see.  Her  hands  were 
clasped  upon  her  knee,  and  the  fingers  were  bloodless  where 
they  interlaced  one  another.  Was  she  suffering  ?  Was  the 


68 


threatened  parting  the  cause  of  her  disquiet  ?  If  this  were 
so,  what  was  his  duty  as  a  man  of  honor — of  common  hu 
manity  ?  And  if  he  were  forced  to  admit  that  he  held  her 
happiness  in  his  power,  and  to  accept  the  consequences  that 
must  ensue  from  his  idle  gallantry  and  her  mistaken  read 
ing  of  the  same,  was  the  thought  really  repulsive  ?  Would 
it  be  a  total  sacrifice  of  feeling  to  a  sense  of  right  ?  It  was 
a  repetition,  grave  and  careful,  of  the  r every  of  that  July 
night,  two  weeks  ago. 

Sarah's  hat — a  broad-brimmed  "flat"  of  brown  straw — had 
fallen  back  upon  her  shoulders,  and  the  sea-breeze  played  in 
her  hair,  raising  the  short  and  loose  strands,  and  giving  to 
the  whole  a  rough,  "frowzy"  look.  Her  plain  linen  collar 
and  undersleeves  showed  her  complexion  and  hands  to  the 
worst  possible  advantage.  Upon  her  cheeks,  this  same  un 
friendly  wind  had  bestowed  a  coat  of  tan  and  a  few  freck 
les,  that  were  all  the  more  conspicuous  from  her  pallor,  while 
her  fingers  were  as  brown  as  a  gypsy's.  Her  gray  poplin 
dress  had  lost  most  of  its  original  gloss,  and  being  one  of 
Mrs.  Hunt's  bargains — "  a  cheap  thing,  but  plenty  good  for 
that  outlandish  Shrewsbury" — already  betrayed  its  cotton 
warp  by  creases  that  would  not  be  smoothed,  and  an  aspect 
of  general  limpness — a  prophecy  of  speedy,  irremediable 
shabbiness.  Cast  loosely  about  her  shoulders  was  a  light 
shawl,  green,  with  black  sprigs — another  bargain  ;  and  be 
yond  the  skirt  of  her  robe  appeared  the  toe  and  instep  of  a 
thick-soled  gaiter,  very  suitable  for  a  tramp  through  damp 
sand,  yet  any  thing  but  becoming  to  the  foot  it  protected. 

With  an  impatient  shake  of  the  head,  involuntary  and 
positive,  Philip  closed  his  final  observation.  And  cutting 
oif  a  large  splinter  from  the  weather-beaten  timber,  against 
which  he  leaned,  set  about  trimming  it,  wearing  a  serious, 
settled  face,  that  said  his  mind  was  fully  made  up. 

What  had  Sarah  seen  all  this  while  ? 


HUSKS.  69 

Heavens,  over  which  the  films  of  the  forenoon  had  thick 
ened  into  dun  cloud-curtains,  stretching  above,  and  enwrap 
ping  the  world ;  a  wild,  dreary  expanse  of  troubled  waters, 
whose  horizon  line  was  lost  in  the  misty  blending  of  sea 
and  sky,  ever  hurrying  and  heaving  to  moan  out  their  unrest 
upon  the  barren  beach.  In  the  distance  was  a  solitary  sail ; 
nearer  to  the  land,  a  large  sea-bird  flew  heavily  against  the 
wind.  In  such  mateless,  weary  flight,  must  her  life  be  passed ; 
that  lone,  frail  craft  was  not  so  hopelessly  forlorn  upon  a 
gloomy  sea,  beneath  a  sky  that  gloomed  yet  more  darkly — 
as  was  her  heart,  torn  suddenly  from  its  moorings — anchor, 
and  rudder,  and  compass  gone !  Yet  who  could  syllable 
the  mighty  sorrow  of  the  complaining  sea?  And  were 
there  words  in  human  language,  that  could  tell  the  anguish 
of  the  swelling  flood  beating  within  her  breast  ? 

"  Going  away !  To-morrow !"  For  a  little  space  this 
was  all  the  lament  she  kept  repeating  over  to  herself. 
Pregnant  with  woe  she  knew  it  to  be,  yet  it  was  not  until 
she  was  allowed  to  meditate  in  silence  upon  the  meaning  of 
the  words  that  she  realized  what  had  truly  come  upon  her. 
She  had  thrown  away  all  her  hope  of  earthly  happiness — 
risked  it  as  madly,  lost  it  as  surely,  as  if  she  had  tossed  it — 
a  tangible  pearl — into  the  yawning  ocean.  Her  instinct 
assured  her  that,  were  it  otherwise,  the  tidings  of  Philip's 
intended  departure,  his  suddenly  formed  resolution  to  leave 
her,  would  have  been  conveyed  to  her  in  a  far  different 
manner.  Her  keen  backward  glance  penetrated  Aunt 
Sarah's  simple  wiles ;  his  obvious  annoyance  thereat ;  his 
determination  to  save  himself  from  suspicion  ;  his  honorable 
fear  lest  she,  too,  should  imagine  him  loving,  where  he  was 
only  civil  and  kind.  Yes,  it  was  all  over !  The  best  thing 
she  could  hope  to  do,  the  brightest  prospect  life  had  now 
for  her,  was  that  her  secret  should  remain  hers  alone,  until 
the  troubled  heart  moaned  itself  into  the  rest  which  knows 


70  HUSKS. 

no  waking.  She  was  used  to  concealment.  All  her  exist 
ence,  excepting  the  sweet  delusive  dream  of  the  past  three 
weeks,  had  been  a  stern  preparation  for  this  trial.  But  she 
was  already  weary  and  faint — fit  to  lie  down  and  die,  so 
intense  had  been  the  throe  of  this  one  struggle. 

"  How  long  is  this  to  last  ?     How  long  ?" 

The  exclamation  actually  broke,  in  an  inarticulate  murmur, 
from  her  lips. 

"  Did  you  speak?"  inquired  Philip. 

"  I  think  not.  I  am  not  sure.  I  did  not  intend  to  do 
so!" 

"  Grant  me  credit  for  my  forbearance  in  not  obtruding 
my  prosaic  talk  upon  your  musings,"  he  went  on,  playfully. 
"  It  was  a  powerful  temptation — for  I  remember,  constantly, 
that  this  is  our  last  opportunity  for  a  genuine  heart  and 
head  confabulation,  such  as  I  shall  often  linger  for,  after  I 
leave  you — and  sinceuity !  You  have  done  me  good,  Miss 
Sarah ;  taught  me  Faith,  Hope,  Charity — a  blessed  sister 
hood  !" 

"  May  they  ever  attend  you !" 

"  Amen !  and  thank  you !  And  what  wish  shall  I  make 
in  return  for  your  beautiful  benediction  ?" 

"  Whatever  you  like.  My  desires  are  not  many  or  ex 
travagant." 

"  You  are  wrong.  You  have  a  craving  heart  and  a  crav 
ing  mind.  May  both  be  fed  to  the  full,  with  food  convenient 
for  them — in  measures  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and 
running  over." 

"Of  what?  Husks?"  was  Sarah's  unspoken  and  bitter 
reply.  She  could  not  thank  him,  as  he  had  done  her.  She 
only  bowed,  and,  bending  forward,  took  up  a  handful  of  the 
fine  white  sand  that  formed  the  shore.  Slowly  sifting  it 
through  her  fingers,  she  waited  for  him  to  speak  again. 

Was   this    careless    equanimity   real    or    feigned  ?     The 


H  TJ  S  K  S .  71 

judge  of  character,  the  harpist  upon  heart-chords,  made  the 
next  move — not  the  candid  manly  friend. 

"  I  am  going  to  ask  a  favor  of  you — a  bold  one." 

"  Say  on." 

"By  the  time  I  am  ready  to  retrace  my  steps  southward, 
you  will  be  again  settled  in  New  York.  Will  you  think  me 
presumptuous,  if  I  call  at  your  father's  house  to  continue  an 
acquaintance  which  has  been,  to  me,  at  once  agreeable  and 
profitable  ?" 

The  fingers  were  still,  suddenly.  A  warm  glow,  like 
sunrise,  swept  over  cheek  and  forehead.  A  smile,  slight 
but  sweet,  quivered  upon  her  lips.  Drowning  in  the  depths, 
she  heard  across  the  billow  a  hail  that  spoke  of  hope,  life, 
happiness. 

"  We  will  all  be  glad  to  see  you,"  she  said,  with  affected 
composure. 

"  Not  half  so  glad  as  I  shall  be  to  come.  Will  you  now, 
while  you  think  of  it,  give  me  your  address  ?" 

He  handed  her  a  card  and  a  pencil.  She  wrote  the  re 
quired  direction,  and  received  in  exchange  for  it  the  now 
smooth  bit  of  wood,  which  had  afforded  occupation  to  Philip 
for  half  an  hour  past.  It  was  tendered  in  mock  ceremony, 
and  accepted  smilingly.  Upon  the  gray  tablet  was  inscrib 
ed,  "Philip  Benson,  Deal  Beach,  July  27th,  1856."  A 
playful  or  thoughtless  impulse  caused  him  to  extend  his 
hand  for  it,  after  she  had  read  it,  and  to  add  a  motto,  stale 
as  innocent  in  his  eyes :  Pensez  d  moi  /" 

"  I  shall  preserve  it  as  a  souvenir  of  the  day  and  place," 
observed  Sarah,  slipping  it  into  her  pocket. 

Twilight  overtook  them  before  they  reached  home,  and 
the  night  was  too  cloudy  and  damp  for  a  promenade,  such 
as  they  often  had  in  the  garden  walks  and  lane,  or  for  the 
customary  family  gathering  in  the  long  porch.  Yet  Aunt 
Sarah  was  surprised  that  Philip  was  apparently  content  to 


72  HUSKS. 

spend  the  evening  in  the  sitting-room,  with  herself  and 
husband  by,  to  spoil  the  tete-d-tete  he  must  be  longing  for. 

Still  more  confounded  was  she,  when,  after  her  clever 
strategy  of  coaxing  Uncle  Nathan  into  the  kitchen,  that  the 
coast  might  be  clear,  she  heard  Philip's  step  close  behind 
them. 

"  I  must  clean  my  gun  to-night,  aunt,"  he  said,  taking  it 
from  the  corner ;  "  I  shall  not  have  time  to  do  it  to-mor 
row." 

With  the  utmost  nonchalance  he  began  the  operation, 
whistling  softly  a  lively  air  over  his  work.  Aunt  Sarah 
gave  her  partner  a  look  of  bewildered  despair,  which  he 
returned  by  a  confirmatory  nod,  and  a  smile,  half  comic,  half 
regretful. 

After  breakfast  next  morning,  the  nephew-guest  said 
affectionate  farewells  to  his  relatives  and  Jeannie ;  a  grave, 
gentle  adieu  to  Sarah,  accompanied  by  a  momentary  pres 
sure  of  the  hand,  that  may  have  meant  much  or  little ;  and 
upon  the  snug  homestead  settled  a  quiet  that  was  dreari 
ness  itself  to  one  of  its  inmates. 


HUSKS.  73 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MEANWHILE,  how  had  the  time  sped  to  the  nominal  head 
of  the  Hunt  household — the  solitary,  toiling  father  and 
husband  ?  The  servants  were  dismissed  when  "  the  fami 
ly"  left  town,  although  Mr.  Hunt  continued  to  sleep  at 
home.  A  peripatetic  maid-of-all-work — what  the  English 
denominate  a  char-woman — was  engaged  to  come  early 
every  morning  to  clear  up  the  only  room  in  the  establish 
ment  that  was  used,  before  the  cashier  went  out  for  his 
breakfast,  which  he  procured  at  a  restaurant  pretty  far 
down  town.  The  same  quiet  coffee-house  furnished  him 
with  dinner  and  an  early  tea,  after  which  last  refreshment 
he  was  at  liberty  to  pass  the  evening  in  whatever  manner 
he  liked  best.  There  was  nothing  in  the  city  worth  seeing 
at  this  season,  even  if  he  had  not  lost  all  taste  for  shows 
and  gayety.  Those  of  his  acquaintances  who  were  not 
absent  with  their  wives  and  daughters,  were  living  like 
himself,  furniture  in  overalls  ;  carpets  covered ;  apartments 
closed,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  one  bedroom ;  and 
had  no  place  in  which  to  receive  him  if  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  visiting,  which  he  was  not.  He  was  very  tired, 
moreover,  by  the  time  night  came  on,  and  as  the  heat 
increased,  and  the  days  grew  longer,  his  strength  waned 
more  and  more,  and  his  spirits  with  it.  Meekly  and  uncom 
plainingly  he  plodded  through  his  routine  of  bank  duties, 
so  steady  and  so  faithful  that  his  fellow-workers  and 
customers  had  come  to  regard  him  as  a  reliable  fixture;  a 
4 


74:  HUSKS. 

piece  of  machinery,  whose  winding  up  was  self-performed 
and  whose  accuracy  was  infallible. 

When,  therefore,  on  a  sultry  August  afternoon,  he  turned 
to  leave  his  desk  at  the  close  of  business  hours,  grew 
terribly  pale,  and  dropped  upon  the  floor  in  a  fit  of  death 
like  faintness,  there  was  great  consternation,  and  as  much 
wonder  as  if  no  human  clock-work  had  ever  given  out 
before,  under  a  like  process  of  exhausting  demands. 

Clumsily,  but  with  the  best  of  intentions,  they  brought 
him  to  his  senses,  and  in  half  an  hour  or  so  he  was  suffi 
ciently  recovered  to  be  taken  home.  There  was  a  twitch 
ing  of  the  lips  that  might  have  passed  for  a  sarcastic  smile, 
as  he  heard  the  proposal  to  convey  him  to  his  house ;  but  he 
only  gave  his  street  and  number,  and  lay  silently  back  in 
the  carriage,  supported  by  his  friends,  two  of  whom  insisted 
upon  seeing  him  safely  to  his  own  abode. 

"  Is  this  the  place  ?  Why,  it  is  all  shut  up  !"  exclaimed 
one  of  these  gentlemen,  as  the  driver  drew  up  before  the 
dusty  steps. 

Mrs.  Hunt's  orders  were  that  the  entrance  to  her  mansion 
should  present  the  most  desolate  air  possible  during  her 
absence.  It  had  "  an  aristocratical  look  in  the  summer  time, 
when  everybody  but  nobodies  was  rusticating." 

Again  that  singular  contortion  of  the  mouth,  and  the 
master  (?)  of  the  forlorn-looking  habitation  prepared  to 
descend,  fumbling  in  his  pocket  for  his  pass-key. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  great  kindness, 
and  will — not — trouble — you — longer." 

In  trying  to  raise  his  hand  to  his  hat  for  a  bow,  the 
ghastly  hue  again  overspreadjiis  face,  and  he  staggered. 
Without  further  parley,  his  two  aids  laid  hold  of  him,  one 
on  each  side,  and  supported  him  into  the  house,  up  one,  two 
flights  of  linen-draped  stairs,  to  a  back  bedroom. 

Mrs.  Hunt  would  have  let  her  husband  faint  on  the  side- 


HUSKS.  75 

walk  before  she  would  have  received  company  in  that 
chamber  in  its  present  condition ;  for  the  handsomest  arti 
cles  of  furniture  stood  covered  up  in  another  apartment,  and 
their  place  was  supplied  by  a  plain  bureau,  wash-stand,  and 
bed  belonging  to  the  boys'  room,  a  story  higher  up.  The 
wisdom  of  this  precaution  was  manifest  in  the  signs  of 
neglect  and  slovenliness  displayed  on  all  sides.  One  could 
have  written  his  name  in  the  dust  upon  the  glass;  there 
was  dirt  in  every  corner  and  under  each  chair  and  table ;  the 
wash-basin  was  partly  full  of  dirty  suds,  and  the  towels  and 
counterpane  shockingly  dingy. 

These  things  were  not  remarked  by  the  intruders  until 
they  had  got  their  charge  to  bed,  resisted  no  longer  by  him, 
for  he  began  to  comprehend  his  inability  to  help  himself. 

"  There  is  no  one  beside  ourselves  on  the  premises,  not 
even  a  servant,"  one  of  them  said,  apart  to  his  associate, 
after  a  brief  absence  from  the  room.  "  If  you  will  stay  with 
him  until  I  come  back,  I  will  go  for  a  doctor." 

The  invalid  caught  the  last  word. 

"  Indeed,  Mr.  Hammond,  there  is  no  need  for  you  to  do 
any  thing  more — no  necessity  for  calling  in  a  physician.  I 
am  quite  comfortable  now,  and  shall  be  well  by  morning." 

Mr.  Hammond,  who  was  a  director  in  the  bank,  and 
sincerely  honored  the  honest  veteran  now  prostrated  by  his 
devoted  performance  of  duty,  took  the  hot,  tremulous 
hand  in  his. 

"  I  cannot  allow  you  to  peril  your  valuable  health,  my 
dear  sir.  Unless  you  positively  forbid  it,  I  shall  not  only 
call  your  physician,  but  drop  in  again  myself  this  evening, 
and  satisfy  my  mind  as  to  whether  you  require  my  presence 
through  the  night." 

He  was  as  good  as  his  word ;  but  no  amount  of  per 
suasion  could  induce  Mr.  Hunt  to  accept  his  offered  watch. 
He  would  be  "uneasy,  unhappy,  if  his  young  friend  sacri- 


76  HUSKS. 

ficed  his  own  rest  so  uselessly,"  and  loath  as  he  was  to  leave 
him  to  solitude  and  suffering,  Mr.  Hammond  had  to  yield. 
At  his  morning  visit,  he  found  the  patient  more  tractable. 
After  tedious  hours  of  fevered  wakefulness,  he  had  en 
deavored  to  rise,  only  to  sink  back  again  upon  his  pillow — 
dizzy,  sick,  and  now  thoroughly  alarmed  at  the  state  of  his 
system.  He  did  not  combat  his  friend's  proposal  to  obtain 
a  competent  nurse,  and  to  look  in  on  him  in  person  as  often 
as  practicable  ;  still,  utterly  refused  to  allow  his  wife  to  be 
written  to  on  the  subject  of  his  indisposition. 

"  I  shall  be  better  in  a  day  or  two,  probably  before  she 
could  reach  me.  I  have  never  had  a  spell  of  illness.  It  is 
not  likely  that  this  will  be  any  thing  of  consequence.  I 
greatly  prefer  that  she  should  not  be  apprised  of  this 
attack." 

Mr.  Hammond  was  resolute  on  his  part — the  more  de 
termined,  when  the  physician  had  paid  another  visit,  and 
pronounced  the  malady  a  low  fever,  that  would,  doubtless, 
confine  the  sick  man  to  his  bed  for  several  days,  if  not 
weeks. 

"It  is  not  just  to  your  wife  and  children,  Mr.  Hunt,  to 
keep  them  in  ignorance  of  so  important  a  matter!"  he  urged. 
"  They  will  have  cause  to  feel  themselves  aggrieved  by  you, 
and  ill-treated  by  me,  if  we  practise  this  deception  upon 
them." 

Mr.  Hunt  lay  quiet  for  some  minutes. 

"  Perhaps  you  are  in  the  right,"  he  said.  "  Sarah  would 
be  wounded,  I  know.  I  will  send  for  her !"  he  concluded, 
with  more  animation.  "  She  will  come  as  soon  as  she  re 
ceives  the  letter." 

"  Of  course  she  will !"  rejoined  Mr.  Hammond,  confident 
ly  ;  "  you  are  not  able  to  write.  SuiFer  me  to  be  your 
amanuensis."  He  sat  down  at  a  stand,  and  took  out  his  pen. 
"  Where  is  Mrs.  Hunt  at  present  ?" 


HUSKS.  77 

"  I  am  not  sure.    Either  at  Saratoga  or  Newport." 

Mr.  Hammond  looked  surprised.  "  But  it  is  necessary, 
sir,  that  we  should  know  with  some  degree  of  certainty,  or 
the  letter  may  miscarry.  Perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  write 
to  both  places." 

"The  letter!  Both  places !"  repeated  Mr.  Hunt,  with 
perplexity.  "I  alluded  to  my  daughter  Sarah,  sir,  my 
second  child,  who  is  spending  the  summer  with  her  aunt  in 
Shrewsbury,  New  Jersey.  May  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking 
you  to  write  her  a  short  note,  mentioning  my  sickness  in  as 
guarded  terms  as  you  can  use,  and  requesting  her  to  come 
up  to  the  city  for  a  few  days  ?  She  has  my  youngest  child — 
a  little  girl — with  her.  If  she  can  be  contented  to  remain 
with  her  aunt,  Sarah  had  better  leave  her  there.  She  would 
be  an  additional  burden  to  her  sister  if  she  were  here." 

Whatever  Mr.  Hammond  thought  of  the  marked  prefer 
ence  shown  to  the  daughter  above  the  wife,  he  said  nothing, 
but  proceeded  to  indite  the  desired  epistle,  adding,  in  a 
postscript,  on  his  own  account,  that  he  would  take  pleasure 
in  meeting  Miss  Hunt  at  the  wharf,  on  her  arrival,  and  for 
this  purpose  would  be  at  the  boat  each  day,  until  she  made 
her  appearance  in  New  York. 

He  went,  accordingly,  the  next  afternoon,  although  very 
sure  that  she  could  not  have  received  his  letter  in  season  to 
take  that  boat.  Mr.  Hunt  had  proved  to  him  and  to  him 
self  the  utter  impossibility  of  her  coming,  yet  his  eyes 
brightened  with  expectancy  as  his  friend  entered,  and  faded 
into  sadness  as  he  reported  the  ill-success  of  his  errand. 

"  He  is  evidently  extremely  partial  to  this  one  of  his 
children,"  thought  Mr.  Hammond,  as  he  paced  the  wharf  on 
the  second  evening,  watching,  amid  noisy  hack-drivers  and 
express-men,  for  the  steamer.  "  I  have  seen  the  girls  at 
parties,  but  do  not  remember  their  names.  One  of  them  is 
Tery  pretty.  I  wonder  if  she  is  c  Sarah !' " 


78  HUSKS. 

% 

It  was  growing  dusk  as  the  boat  touched  the  pier.  So 
dim  was  the  light,  that  Mr.  Hammond  was  obliged  to 
station  himself  close  beside  the  gangway,  and  inspect  the 
features  of  each  lady  passenger  more  narrowly  than  polite 
ness  would,  in  other  circumstances,  have  warranted.  They 
hurried  across,  men  and  women,  tall  and  short,  stout  and 
slender,  until  there  tripped  towards  him  the  figure  of  a 
young  girl,  attired  in  a  gray  dress  and  mantle,  and  carrying 
a  small  travelling  bag  in  her  hand.  She  would  have  passed 
him,  had  he  not  stepped  forward  and  spoken. 

"  Miss  Hunt,  I  believe  !" 

In  the  uncertain  twilight,  he  could  see  that  she  grew 
very  pale. 

"How  is  my  father?" 

There  was  no  preamble  of  civility  or  diffidence ;  no  re 
serve  in  addressing  him,  a  mere  stranger;  no  trembling, 
preparatory  queries ;  but  a  point-blank  question,  in  a  tone 
whose  impatient  anguish  moved  his  kind  heart;  a  piercing 
look,  that  would  know  the  truth  then  and  there ! 

"He  is  better,  to-day" — and  he  led  her  out  of  the  press 
of  the  onward  stream.  "  He  has  not  been  dangerously  ill. 
We  hope  and  believe  that  he  will  not  be." 

"  Is  that  true  ?"     Her  fingers  tightened  upon  his  arm. 

"  It  is !  I  would  not,  for  the  world,  deceive  you  in  such 
a  matter." 

"  I  believe  you  !  Thank  Heaven !  I  feared  the  worst !" 
She  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  burst  into  tears. 

Hammond  beckoned  to  a  hackman,  close  by,  and  when 
the  short-lived  reaction  of  over- wrought  feeling  subsided  so 
far  as  to  allow  Sarah  to  notice  surrounding  objects,  she  was 
seated  in  the  carriage,  screened  from  curious  or  impertinent 
gazers,  and  her  escort  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Several 
minutes  elapsed  before  he  again  showed  himself  at  the 
window. 


HUSKS.  79 

"I  must  trouble  you  for  your  checks,  Miss  Hunt,  in 
order  to  get  your  baggage." 

Already  ashamed  of  her  emotion,  she  obeyed  his  demand 
without  speaking. 

"  You  have  given  me  but  one,"  he  said,  turning  it  over 
in  his  hand. 

"That  is  all,  sir." 

"  Indeed  !  You  are  a  model  traveller !  I  thought  no 
young  lady,  in  these  days,  ever  stirred  from  home  without 
half  a  dozen  trunks."  To  himself  he  added,  "  A  sensible 
girl !  An  exception  to  most  of  her  sex,  in  one  thing,  at 
any  rate !" 

Sarah  sat  well  back  into  her  corner,  as  they  drove  up 
lighted  Broadway,  and  was  almost  rudely  taciturn,  while 
her  companion  related  the  particulars  of  her  father's  seizure 
and  subsequent  confinement  to  his  room.  Yet,  that  she 
listened  with  intense  interest,  the  narrator  knew  by  her 
irregular  breathing  and  immovable  attitude.  As  they 
neared  their  destination,  this  fixedness  of  attention  and 
posture  was  exchanged  for  an  eager  restlessness.  She  leaned 
forward  to  look  out  of  the  window,  and  when  they  turned 
into  the  last  street,  quick  as  was  Mr.  Hammond's  motion  to 
unfasten  the  door  of  the  vehicle,  her  hand  was  first  upon 
the  lock.  It  was  cold  as  ice,  and  trembled  so  much  as  to  be 
powerless.  Gently  removing  it,  he  undid  the  catch,  and 
assisted  her  to  alight. 

The  hired  nurse  answered  their  ring,  and  while  Sarah 
brushed  past  her,  and  flew  up  the  stairway,  Mr.  Hammond 
detained  the  woman  to  make  inquiries  and  issue  directions. 

"  It  is  ah1  very  dreary -like,  sir,"  she  complained.  "  Every 
thing  is  packed  away  and  locked  up.  There's  no  getting  at 
a  lump  of  sugar  without  a  hunt  for  the  key,  and  all  he's 
seemed  to  care  for  this  blessed  day,  was  that  his  daughter 
should  be  made  comfortable.  He  sent  me  out  this  after- 


80  HUSKS. 

noon  to  buy  biscuits,  and  sardines,  and  peaches  for  her  tea, 
and  told  me  where  I'd  find  silver  and  china.  It  is  not  at 
all  the  thing  for  him  to  be  worrying  at  such  a  rate.  He'll 
be  worse  for  it  to-morrow,  and  so  I've  told  him,  Mr. 
Hammond." 

"  Perhaps  not,  Mrs.  Kerr.  His  daughter's  coming  will 
cheer  him  and  quiet  him  too,  I  doubt  not.  I  will  not  go 
up  now.  Please  present  my  regards  to  Mr.  Hunt,  and 
say  that  I  will  call  to-morrow." 

He  purposely  deferred  his  visit  until  the  afternoon,  sup 
posing  that  Miss  Hunt  might  object  to  his  early  and  un 
ceremonious  appearance  in  the  realms  now  under  her  con 
trol  ;  nor  when  he  went  did  he  ascend  at  once  to  the  sick- 
chamber,  as  was  his  custom  before  the  transfer  of  its 
superintendence.  Sending  up  his  name  by  the  nurse,  he 
awaited  a  formal  invitation,  among  the  shrouded  sofas  and 
chairs  of  the  sitting-room. 

"  You'll  please  to  walk  up,  sir !"  was  the  message  he  re 
ceived  ;  and  the  woman  subjoined,  confidentially,  "  Things 
is  brighter  to-day,  sir." 

They  certainly  were.  With  wonderfully  little  noise  and 
confusion,  Sarah,  assisted  by  the  nurse,  had  wrought  an 
utter  change  in  the  desolate  apartment.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  the  bureau,  which  had  been  drawn  out  of  sight  into 
the  adjoining  dressing-room,  and  the  bedstead,  the  com 
mon,  defaced  furniture  had  disappeared,  and  its  place  was 
supplied  by  more  comfortable  and  elegant  articles.  The 
windows  were  shaded,  without  giving  an  aspect  of  gloom 
to  the  chamber ;  the  bed-coverings  were  clean  and  fresh ; 
and  the  sick  man,  supported  by  larger  and  plumper  pillows 
than  those  among  which  he  had  tossed  for  many  weary 
nights,  greeted  his  visitor  with  a  cordial  smile  and  out 
stretched  hand. 

"I  thank  you  for  your  kind  care  of  my  daughter  last 


HUSKS.  81 

evening,  sir.  Sarah,  my  dear,  this  is  my  friend,  Mr.  Ham 
mond,  to  whose  goodness  I  am  so  much  indebted." 

"  The  debt  is  mine  no  less,"  was  the  frank  reply,  as  she 
shook  hands  with  her  new  acquaintance.  "  We  can  never 
thank  you  sufficiently,  Mr.  Hammond,  for  all  you  have  done 
for  us,  in  taking  care  of  him." 

"  A  genuine  woman !  a  dutiful,  affectionate  daughter !" 
was  now  Hammond's  comment,  as  he  disclaimed  all  right  to 
her  gratitude.  "  None  of  your  sentimental,  affected  ab 
surdities,  with  nothing  in  either  head  or  heart !" 

This  impression  was  confirmed  by  daily  observation ;  for 
politeness  first,  then  inclination,  induced  him  to  continue  his 
"  professional"  calls,  as  Sarah  styled  them.  He  seemed  to 
divide  with  her  the  responsibility  of  her  position.  Its 
duties  were  onerous ;  but  for  this  she  did  not  care.  She 
was  strong  and  active,  and  love  made  labor  light — even 
welcome  to  her.  A  competent  cook  was  inducted  into 
office  below  stairs,  and  household  matters  went  forward 
with  system  and  despatch.  The  eye  of  the  mistress,  pro 
tern.,  was  over  all ;  her  hand  ever  ready  to  lift  her  share  of 
the  load,  yet  her  attendance  at  her  father's  bedside  appeared 
unremitting.  His  disease,  without  being  violent,  was  dis 
tressing  and  wearing,  destroying  sleep  and  appetite,  and 
preying  constantly  upon  the  nerves.  To  soothe  these, 
Sarah  read  and  talked  cheerfully,  and  often,  at  his  request, 
sang  old-time  ballads  and  childish  lullabys  to  court  diversion 
and  slumber. 

Occasionally  Lewis  Hammond  paused  without  the  door 
until  the  strain  was  concluded,  drinking  in  the  notes  with 
more  pleasure  than  he  was  wont  to  feel  in  listening  to  the 
bravuras  and  startling,  astonishing  cadenzas  that  were  war 
bled  in  his  ears  by  the  amateur  cantatrices  of  the  "  best 
circles;"  then,  when  the  sounds  from  within  ceased,  he 

delayed  his  entrance  some  moments  longer,  lest  the  song- 
4* 


82  HUSKS. 

stress  should  suspect  his  eaves-dropping.  He  ceased  to 
speculate  upon  the  reasons  of  Mrs.  Hunt's  protracted  ab 
sence  at  a  time  when  no  true-hearted  wife  could,  from 
choice,  remain  away  from  her  rightful  post.  When,  at  the 
expiration  of  a  fortnight  from  the  day  of  the  attack,  the 
physician  declared  his  patient  feebly,  but  surely  conva 
lescent,  his  young  friend  had  decided,  to  his  entire  satisfac 
tion,  that  things  were  best  as  they  were.  Mr.  Hunt  had 
made  a  most  judicious  selection  from  the  female  portion 
of  his  family,  and  what  need  of  more  nurses  when  this  one 
was  so  efficient  and  willing  ?  He  caught  himself  hoping 
that  the  fussy  dame  he  had  met  in  society  would  not 
abridge  her  summer's  recreation  on  account  of  an  ailing 
husband.  He  had  designed  going  to  Saratoga  himself,  for 
ten  days  or  two  weeks ;  but  he  was  very  well.  It  was  diffi 
cult  to  get  away  from  business,  and  this  affair  of  Mr. 
Hunt's  enlisted  his  sympathies  so  deeply,  that  he  could  not 
resolve  upon  leaving  him.  If  he  had  never  before  enjoyed 
the  bliss  that  flows  from  a  disinterested  action,  he  tasted  it 
now. 

Mrs.  Hunt  was  not  kept  in  total  ignorance  of  what  was 
transpiring  at  home.  Sarah  had  written,  cautiously  and 
hopefully,  of  her  father's  sickness  and  her  recall ;  repeat 
ing  Mr.  Hunt's  wish  that  his  consort  should  not  hurry  back 
through  mistaken  solicitude  for  his  health  and  comfort ;  and 
they  were  taken  at  their  word.  A  week  elapsed  before  an 
answer  arrived — a  lengthy  missive,  that  had  cost  the  writer 
more  pains  and  time  than  the  preparation  for  her  annual 
"  crush"  generally  did.  She  was  an  indifferent  penman, 
and  sadly  out  of  practice;  but  there  was  much  to  be  said, 
and  "  Lucy,  of  course,  circumstanced  as  she  was,  could  not 
spare  time  to  be  her  scribe." 

The  significant  phrase  underscored  quickened  Sarah's 
curiosity ;  but  there  was  nothing  for  the  next  three  pages 


HUSKS.  83 

that  fed  or  quieted  it.  They  were  filled  with  minute  direc 
tions  about  housewifery — economical  details,  that  would 
have  served  as  capital  illustrations  of  "Poor  Richard's" 
maxims;  injunctions,  warnings,  and  receipts  sufficient  in 
quantity  to  last  a  young,  frugally-disposed  housekeeper  for 
the  remainder  of  her  natural  existence.  It  was  a  trial  to 
this  exemplary  wife  and  mother,  she  confessed,  to  absent 
herself  so  long  from  her  home  duties;  but  circumstances 
had  compelled  her  stay  at  Saratoga.  Of  their  nature, 
Sarah  had  already  been  informed  in  her  sister's  last  letter. 

"Which  I  cannot  have  received,  then — "  Sarah  inter 
rupted  herself  to  say,  as  she  read  to  her  father :  "  I  have 
not  heard  from  Lucy  in  four  weeks.  I  have  thought  hard 
of  her  for  not  writing." 

"But,"  concluded  Mrs.  Hunt,  "matters  looks  well  just 
now,  and  I  know  your  father  will  aggree,  when  he  heers 
all  about  our  season's  work,  that  our  labor  and  Money  has 
been  a  good  investment.  Take  care  of  the  keys  yourself, 
Sarah.  Be  pruedent,  keep  a  sharp  Lookout  on  the  cook, 
and  don't  negleck  your  poor  father.  Your  Affectionate 
mother,  E.  HUNT. 

"P.  S.  Your  kitchen  Girl  must  have  a  Great  deel  of 
spair  Time.  Set  her  to  work  cleening  the  House,  for  you 
may  expeckt  us  home  in  two  weeks,  or  maybe  Less. 

"E.  H." 

Lucy  had  slipped  a  note  in  the  same  envelope — a  thin, 
satiny  sheet,  hardly  larger  than  the  little  hand  that  had 
moved  over  its  perfumed  page.  Her  chirography  was  very 
running,  very  light,  very  ladylike,  and,  we  need  not  say, 
very  italical. 

"  Mamma  tells  me,  Sarah  dear,  that  she  has  given  you  a 
hint  of  how  matters  are  progressing  between  your  humble 
servant  and  our  particular  friend,  of  whom  I  wrote  in  my 


84:  HUSKS. 

last.  The  poor,  dear  woman  flatters  herself  that  it  is  all 
her  work;  but  somebody  else  may  have  his  own  opinion, 
and  I  certainly  have  mine.  I  have  had  to  caution  her  re 
peatedly,  to  prevent  her  from  showing  her  delight  too 
plainly  to  my  '  Goldfinch,'  as  Vic.  and  I  have  dubbed  him. 
Don't  be  in  a  hurry  with  your  congratulations,  ma  ch&re. 
'There's  many  a  slip  'twixt  the  cup  and  the  lip;'  and 
although  the  season  is  so  near  over,  I  may  yet  see  some 
one  whom  I  like  better  than  His  Highness.  Vic.  has  a 
beau,  too — a  rich  widower,  less  fascinating  than  my 
devoted;  but  a  very  agreeable  man,  without  encumbrance, 
and  very  much  smitten.  So  we  pair  off  nicely  in  our  rides 
and  promenades,  and,  entre  nous,  are  quite  the  talk.  You 
are  a  good  little  thing  to  nurse  papa  so  sweetly — a  great 
deal  better  than  I  am.  I  told  my  knight  of  this  proof  of 
your  excellence  the  other  day,  and  he  said  that  it  was  only 
what  might  have  been  expected  from  my  sister  !  Don't  you 
feel  flattered  ?  Poor  fellow !  Love  is  blind,  you  know. 

"  Love  to  papa.  I  am  sorry  he  has  been  so  unwell.  I  do 
not  imagine  that  I  shall  have  time  to  write  again  before  we 
leave  this  paradise.  We  will  telegraph  you  when  to  ex 
pect  us.  Perhaps  I  may  have  an  escort  home — some  one 
who  would  like  to  have  a  private  conference  with  my  re 
spected  father.  JSTous  verrons  ! 

"  Lovingly,  LFCIE." 

Mr.  Hunt  twisted  himself  uneasily  in  his  arm-chair  as 
his  daughter,  by  his  desire,  reluctantly  read  aloud  the 
double  letter.  A  shade  of  dissatisfaction  and  shame  clouded 
his  countenance  when  she  finished,  and  he  sighed  heavily. 

"I  am  glad  they  are  still  enjoying  themselves,"  said 
Sarah,  forcing  a  smile.  "  Lucy  has  secured  a  captive  too, 
it  appears — one  whom  she  is  likely  to  bring  home  at  her 
chariot  wheels." 


HUSKS.  85 

"  In  my  day  daughters  were  in  the  habit  of  consulting 
their  fathers  before  giving  decided  encouragement  to  any 
admirers,  strangers  especially,"  said  Mr.  Hunt,  with  dis 
pleasure.  "  In  these  times  there  are  no  parents  !  There 
is  the  'old  man'  and  Hhe  Governor,'  who  makes  the 
money  his  children  honor  him  by  wasting,  and  the  '  poor, 
dear  woman/  who  plays  propriety  in  the  belle's  flirtations, 
and  helps,  or  hinders,  in  snaring  some  booby  '  Goldfinch.' 
It  is  a  lying,  cheating,  hollow  world !  I  have  been  sick  of 
it  for  twenty  years !" 

"  Father !  my  dear  father,"  exclaimed  Sarah,  kneeling  be 
side  him,  and  winding  her  arm  about  his  neck.  "  You  mis 
judge  your  children,  and  their  love  for  you  !" 

"  I  believe  in  you,  child !  I  cannot  understand  how  you 
have  contrived  to  grow  up  so  unlike  your  sister  and  your — " 
The  recollection  of  the  respect  his  daughter  owed  her  moth 
er,  checked  the  word. 

"  You  do  not  deal  fairly  with  Lucy's  character,  father. 
She  has  one  of  the  kindest  hearts  and  most  amiable  disposi 
tions  in  the  world.  I  wish  I  had  caused  you  as  little  anxiety 
as  she  has.  Remember  her  obedience  and  my  wilfulness ; 
her  gentleness  and  my  obstinacy,  and  blush  at  your  verdict, 
Sir  Judge !" 

She  seated  herself  upon  his  foot-cushion  and  rested  her 
chin  upon  his  knee,  looking  archly  up  in  his  face.  She  was 
surprised  and  troubled  at  this  degree  of  acrimony  in  one 
whose  habitual  manner  was  so  placid,  and  his  judgment  so 
mild ;  but,  for  his  sake,  she  was  resolute  not  to  show  her 
feeling.  He  laid  his  hand  caressingly  upon  her  shoulder, 
and  sank  into  a  revery,  profound,  and  seemingly  not 
pleasant. 

Sarah  took  advantage  of  his  abstraction  to  remove  the 
wrapper  of  a  newspaper  received  by  the  same  mail  that 
had  brought  her  letters.  The  operation  was  carefully  per- 


86  HUSKS. 

formed,  so  as  not  to  invite  notice,  and  the  envelope  laid  away 
in  her  work-box.  She  knew  well  who  had  traced  the  clear, 
bold  superscription,  and  what  initials  composed  the  mysteri 
ous  cipher  in  one  corner  of  the  cover ;  nor  was  this  the 
only  token  of  recollection  she  had  from  this  source.  The 
article  marked  in  the  number  of  the  literary  journal  he  had 
selected  as  the  medium  of  correspondence,  was  an  exquisite 
little  poem  from  an  author  whose  works  Philip  had  read  to 
her  in  the  vine-covered  porch  at  Shrewsbury.  Slowly, 
longingly  she  perused  it ;  gathering  sweetness  from  every 
word,  and  fancying  how  his  intonations  would  bring  out 
beauties  she  could  not  of  herself  discover.  Then  she  took 
out  the  wrapper  again,  and  studied  the  postmark.  On  the 
former  papers  he  had  sent  the  stamp  was  illegible,  but  this 
was  easily  deciphered — "  Albany." 

"  So  near !  He  is  returning  homewards  !"  was  the  glad 
reflection  that  flooded  her  face  with  joy. 

"  Sarah  !"  said  her  father,  abruptly.  "  Do  you  ever  think 
of  marriage  ?" 

"  Sir  ?"  stammered  the  girl,  confused  beyond  measure. 

"  I  mean,  have  you  imbibed  your  sister's  ideas  on  this 
subject  ?  the  notions  of  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  girls  in 
your  walk  of  life.  Do  you  intend  to  seek  a  husband,  boldly 
and  unblushingly,  in  all  public  places  ?  to  degrade  your 
self  by  practising  the  arts  they  understand  so  well  to 
catch  an  c  eligible'  partner,  who  may  repay  your  insincerity 
and  mercenary  views  by  insult  and  infidelity — at  best  by  in 
difference  !  Child !  you  do  not  know  the  risk  match-making 
mothers  and  husband-hunting  daughters  run ;  the  terrible 
retribution  that  may  be — that  often  is  in  store  for  such !  I 
had  rather  see  you  and  your  sister  dead,  than  the  victims 
of  that  most  hateful  of  heartless  shows — a  fashionable  mar 
riage  !  Poor  Lucy !  poor  Lucy !" 

" 1  hope  you  are  distressing  yourself  without  reason,  sir. 


HUSKS.  87 

Mother  is  not  the  person  to  surrender  her  child  to  one  whose 
character  and  respectability  are  not  indisputable.  Nor  is 
Lucy  sentimental.  I  do  not  fear  her  suffering  very  acutely 
from  any  cause." 

"  I  grant  that.  You  would  be  more  to  be  pitied  as  an  un 
loved  or  unloving  wife,  than  she.  I  tremble  for  you  some 
times,  when  I  think  of  this  chance.  My  daughter,  when 
you  marry,  look  beyond  the  outside  show.  Seek  for  moral 
worth  and  a  true  heart,  instead  of  doUars  and  cents !" 

"  I  will !  I  promise !"  said  Sarah,  her  amazement  at  his 
earnestness  and  choice  of  topics  combining  to  shake  her 
voice  and  constrain  her  smile.  "  But  there  is  time  enough 
for  that,  father  dear.  When  the  man  of  heart  and  worth 
sues  for  my  poor  hand,  I  will  refer  him  to  you,  and  abide 
entirely  by  your  decision." 

"  Mr.  Hammond  is  down-stairs,"  said  the  servant  at  the 
door.  And  Sarah,  gathering  up  her  papers,  escaped  from 
the  room  before  he  entered. 


88  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ME.  HUNT  was  able  to  resume  his  place  in  the  bank  several 
days  before  his  wife  returned.  Uncle  Nathan  had  brought 
Jeannie  home  as  soon  as  her  father  could  leave  his  room, 
and  the  boys  had  likewise  been  written  for ;  so  that  the  fam 
ily  reunion  was  apparently  near  at  hand. 

Weak  as  he  was,  Mr.  Hunt  met  his  spouse  and  daughter 
at  the  depot,  and  the  noise  of  their  entrance  in  the  lower 
hall  first  apprised  Sarah  of  their  arrival.  To  the  bound  of 
pleasurable  excitement  her  heart  gave  at  the  certainty  that 
they  had  come,  succeeded  a  sigh  at  the  termination  of  the 
free,  yet  busy  life  she  had  led  of  late — the  probability  that 
she  would  be  compelled  to  resume  her  old  habits  of  feeling 
and  action.  Driving  back  the  selfish  regret,  she  ran  down 
to  welcome  the  travellers. 

"  How  well  you're  looking,  Sarah !"  said  Mrs.  Hunt,  after 
kissing  her.  "  I  declare,  if  you  was  to  arrange  your  hair 
different,  and  study  dress  a  bit,  you  would  come  near  being 
right  down  handsome." 

"  '  Handsome  is  as  handsome  does  !'  "  quoted  Mr.  Hunt, 
stoutly.  "  According  to  that  rule,  she  is  a  beauty." 

"Thank  you,  sir!"  said  Sarah,  bowing  low.  And  she 
tried  to  forget,  in  her  sister's  affectionate  greeting,  the  chill 
and  heart-sickness  produced  by  her  mother's  business-like 
manner  and  compliment. 

"Having  disposed  of  one  daughter,  she  means  to  work 
the  other  into  merchantable  shape !"  was  her  cynical  deduc 
tion  from  the  dubious  praise  bestowed  upon  herself. 


HUSKS.          .  89 

Mrs.  Hunt  pursued  her  way  up  the  steps,  examining  and 
remarking  upon  every  thing  she  saw. 

"  Them  stair-rods  ain't  so  clean  as  they  had  ought  to  be, 
Sarah.  I'm  afraid  your  girls  are  careless,  or  shirks.  When 
did  you  uncover  the  carpet  ?" 

"  Some  time  ago,  mother,  while  father  was  sick.  There 
were  gentlemen  calling  constantly,  and  the  cover  looked 
shabby,  I  thought." 

"  It  couldn't  be  helped,  I  s'pose  ;  but  the  carpet  is  more 
worn  than  I  expected  to  see  it.  With  the  heavy  expenses 
that  will  be  crowding  on  us  this  fall  and  winter,  we  can't 
afford  to  get  any  new  things  for  the  house." 

Lucy,  who  preceded  her  sister,  glanced  back  and  laughed 
meaningly.  And  Sarah  was  very  glad  that  her  father  had 
not  overheard  the  observation,  which  confirmed  her  belief 
that  the  beauty's  hand  was  disposed  of  without  the  form  of 
consultation  with  her  natural  and  legal  guardian. 

Dinner  was  announced  by  the  time  the  travelling  habili 
ments  and  dust  were  removed.  Sarah  had  spared  no  pains 
to  provide  a  bountiful  and  tasteful  repast,  at  the  risk  of  in 
curring  her  mother's  reproof  for  her  extravagant  proclivities. 
But  the  dame  was  in  high  good-humor,  and  the  youthful 
purveyor  received  but  a  single  sentence  of  deprecation. 

"  I  hope  you  have  not  been  living  as  high  as  this  all  the 
time,  Sarah !" 

"  No,  madam.  Father's  wants  and  mine  were  very  few. 
I  foresaw  that  you  would  need  substantial  refreshment  after 
your  journey." 

"  You  was  very  thoughtful.  We  both  have  good  appe 
tites,  I  guess.  I  know  that  I  have." 

"  Mine  will  speak  for  itself,"  said  Lucy. 

"  You  have  no  idea  how  that  girl  has  enjoyed  everything 
since  she  has  been  away,"  observed  Mrs.  Hunt  to  her  hus 
band.  "  There  was  Vic.  West,  who  took  it  into  her  head 


90  .  HUSKS. 

that  she  ought  to  look  die-away  and  peaking,  and  refuse  food, 
when  her  beau  was  by ;  but  Lu.,  she  just  went  right  along 
and  behaved  natural,  and  I'm  sure  that  somebody  thought 
more  of  her  for  it." 

Mr.  Hunt's  face  darkened  for  a  moment ;  but  he  could 
not  find  fault  with  his  eldest  child  on  her  first  evening  at 
home. 

"  So  you  have  been  quite  a  belle,  Lucy,"  he  said,  pleas 
antly. 

"Better  than  that,  Mr.  H. !"  Mrs.  Hunt  checked  her 
triumphant  announcement  as  the  butler  re-entered  the  room. 
"I  shouldn't  wonder,"  she  resumed,  mysteriously,  "if  Lucy 
was  disposed  to  settle  down  into  a  steady,  sedate  matron 
after  her  holiday." 

"  Don't  you  deceive  yourself  with  that  hope !"  laughed 
Lucy. 

She  was  evidently  pleased  by  these  not  over-delicate  allu 
sions  to  her  love-affairs,  and,  like  her  mother,  extremely 
complacent  over  the  result  of  her  recent  campaign.  Sarah 
felt  that,  were  she  in  her  place,  she  would  shrink  from  this 
open  jesting  upon  a  sacred  subject ;  still,  she  had  not  ex 
pected  that  her  sister  would  behave  differently.  Lucy's  na 
ture  was  gentle  without  being  fine  ;  affectionate,  but  shallow. 
She  would  have  had  no  difficulty  in  attaching  herself  to  any 
man  whom  her  friends  recommended  as  "  a  good  match," 
provided  he  were  pleasing  in  exterior,  and  her  most  devoted 
servitor. 

The  sisters  had  no  opportunity  of  private  converse  until 
the^  adjourned  to  the  parlor  for  the  evening.  Lucy  was 
very  beautiful  in  a  blue  silk,  whose  low  corsage  and  short 
sleeves  revealed  her  superb  shoulders  and  rounded  arms. 
Her  complexion  was  a  rich  carmine,  deepening  or  softening 
with  every  motion — one  would  have  said,  with  every  breath. 
Her  blue  eyes  fairly  danced  in  a  sort  of  subdued  glee,  very 


HUSKS.  91 

charming  and  very  becoming,  but  altogether  unlike  the  ten 
der,  dewy  light  of  "  Love's  first  young  dream." 

"  How  lovely  you  have  grown,  sister !"  said  Sarah,  ear 
nestly.  "  Oh,  Lucy,  I  don't  believe  you  rightly  value  the 
gift  of  beauty — as  I  would  do,  if  it  were  mine !" 

"  Nonsense  !"  The  dimples,  that  made  her  smile  so  be 
witching,  broke  her  blushes  into  rosy  waves,  as  the  conscious 
fair  one  turned  her  face  towards  the  mirror.  "  I  am  pleased 
to  hear  that  I  am  passable  to-night.  We  may  have  visitors. 
A  friend  of  ours  has  expressed  a  great  desire  to  see  me  in 
my  home — '  in  the  bosom  of  my  family.'  Ahem  1" 

She  smoothed  out  an  imaginary  wrinkle  in  her  bodice,  an 
excuse  for  tarrying  longer  before  the  glass. 

"  He  came  to  town  with  you,  then  ?"  ventured  Sarah. 

Lucy  nodded. 

"  And  promised  to  call  this  evening  ?" 

"  Right  again,  my  dear !" 

She  was  graver  now,  for  she  had  conceived  the  happy  no 
tion  of  appropriating  to  her  own  use  a  cluster  of  white  roses 
and  buds  she  discovered  in  the  vase  on  the  marble  slab  under 
the  mirror.  If  any  thing  could  have  enhanced  the  elegance 
of  her  figure  and  toilet,  it  was  the  coiffure  she  immediately 
set  about  arranging.  The  flowers  were  a  present  to  Sarah 
from  Lewis  Hammond ;  but  she  thought  little  of  him  or  of 
them,  as  Lucy  laid  them  first  on  one,  then  the  other  side  of 
her  head,  to  try  the  effect. 

"  And  you  really  care  for  him,  sister  ?"  came  forth  in  such 
a  timid,  anxious  tone,  that  Lucy  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"  You  dear  little  modest  piece  of  romantic  simplicity ! 
One  would  suppose  that  you  were  popping  the  question 
yourself,  from  your  behavior.  Care  for  him  ?  Why 
shouldn't  I  ?  I  need  not  say  '  yes'  unless  I  do,  need  I  ?" 

"  But  you  take  it  so  coolly !  A  betrothal  is,  to  me,  such 
a  solemn  thing." 


92  HUSKS. 

i 

"  And  to  most  other  girls,  perhaps.  (There !  if  I  only  had 
a  hair-pin.  Don't  rob  yourself !  thank  you!  Isn't  that  an 
improvement  ?)  As  I  was  saying,  why  should  I  pretend  to 
be  pensive  and  doleful,  when  I  am  as  merry  as  a  lark  ?  or 
lovesick,  when  I  have  never  lost  a  meal  or  an  hour's  sleep 
from  the  commencement  of  the  courtship  until  now  ?  That 
is  not  my  style,  Sarah.  I  am  very  practical  in  my  views 
and  feelings.  Not  that  I  don't  play  talking  sentiment  in 
our  genuine  love-scenes,  and  I  really  like  unbounded  devo 
tion  on  the  other  side.  It  is  decidedly  pleasant  to  be  adored. 
I  was  surprised  to  find  how  I  enjoyed  it." 

"  Oh,  sister !  sister !"  Sarah  leaned  her  forehead  on  the 
mantel,  repelled  and  well-nigh  disgusted  by  this  heartless  tri 
fling — this  avowed  counterfeit — so  abhorrent  to  her  feelings. 
But  Lucy  was  as  much  in  earnest  as  she  could  be  on  such  a 
theme.  She  went  on,  unheeding  her  sister's  ejaculation. 

"  You  must  understand,  of  course,  that  we  are  not  posi 
tively  engaged.  I  gave  him — Goldfinch — a  good  scolding 
for  violating  the  rules  of  etiquette  by  addressing  me  while  I 
was  away  from  home  ;  but  it  was  just  like  him.  He  is  as 
impulsive  as  he  can  live.  To  punish  him  I  refused  to  answer 
him  until  after  our  return  to  New  York,  and  his  interview 
with  father.  He  would  have  written  to  him  on  the  spot, 
had  I  not  forbidden  him.  He  behaved  so  beautifully,  that 
I  consented  to  his  taking  charge  of  us  to  the  city,  and  I  sup 
pose  the  rest  must  follow  in  good  time.  How  melancholy 
your  face  is !  Are  you  very  much  afflicted  at  the  thought 
of  losing  me  ?  Why,  Sarah  !  my  dear  child,  are  those  tears 
in  your  eyes  ?  If  she  isn't  crying  in  good  earnest !" 

And  Lucy's  musical  laugh  rolled  through  the  rooms  in 
her  enjoyment  of  the  joke.  What  else  could  it  be  to  her,  elate 
with  her  success  in  achieving  the  chief  end  of  woman — the 
capture  of  a  rich  and  handsome,  in  every  respect  an  unex 
ceptionable  lover  ? 


HUSKS.  93 

"  Hist !"  she  said,  raising  her  finger.  "  He  has  come ! 
Your  eyes  are  red !  Run,  and  make  yourself  presentable !" 

The  door,  opening  from  the  hall  into  the  front  parlor, 
swung  on  its  hinges  as  Sarah  gained  the  comparative  ob 
scurity  of  the  third  and  rear  room.  A  strong  impulse  of  in 
terest  or  curiosity  there  arrested  her  flight  to  enable  her  to 
get  a  glimpse  of  her  destined  brother-in-law.  Lucy  had  not 
mentioned  his  proper  name,  since  her  earliest  letter  from 
Newport  had  eulogized  a  certain  George  Finch,  a  Bostonian, 
wealthy,  and  attentive  to  herself.  Sarah's  backward  glance 
fell  upon  the  visitor  as  he  met  his  queenly  bride  elect 
directly  under  the  blazing  chandelier. 

It  was  Philip  J3enson ! 

Chained  to  the  spot  by  weakness  or  horror,  the  looker-on 
stood  motionless,  while  the  suitor  raised  the  lily  fingers  he 
held  to  his  lips,  and  then  led  Lucy  to  a  seat.  His  voice 
broke  the  spell.  As  the  familiar  cadences  smote  her  ear, 
the  sharp  pain  that  ran  through  every  fibre  of  her  frame 
awakened  Sarah  from  her  stupor. 

How  she  gained  her  room  she  never  knew ;  but  she  had 
sense  enough  left  to  direct  her  flight  to  this  refuge — and, 
whin  within,  to  lock  the  door.  Then  she  threw  up  her 
arms  with  a  piteous,  wailing  cry,  and  fell  across  the  bed, 
dead  for  the  time  to  further  woe. 

Alone  and  painfully  she  struggled  back  to  consciousness. 
Sitting  upright,  she  stared  wonderingly  around  her,  unable 
to  recollect  what  had  stricken  her  down.  The  chamber  was 
imperfectly  lighted  by  the  rays  of  the  street  lamp  opposite, 
and  with  the  recognition  of  objects  within  its  narrow  limits 
there  crept  back  to  her  all  that  had  preceded  her  retreat 
thither.  For  the  next  hour  she  sat  still--her  head  bowed 
upon  her  knees,  amid  the  wrecks  of  her  dream  world. 

Dreary  and  loveless  as  had  been  most  of  her  previous 
life,  she  had  never  endured  any  thing  like  this,  unless  one 


94:  HUSKS. 

miserable  hour  upon  the  Deal  Beach,  when  Philip  broke 
the  tidings  of  his  intended  departure,  were  a  slight  foretaste 
of  the  agony,  the  utter  despair,  that  claimed  her  now  for  its 
victim.  Since  then,  she  had  been  hopeful.  His  promise  of 
a  visit,  the  tokens  of  remembrance  he  had  transmitted  to 
her  every  week,  had  kept  alive  memory  and  expectation, 
and  this  was  his  coming  !  this  the  occasion  she  had  pictured 
so  fondly,  painted  with  the  brightest  hues  Love  could 
borrow  from  imagination !  She  had  heard  again  the  voice 
that  had  haunted  her  dreams,  from  their  parting  until  now 
— heard  it  in  deeper,  softer  tones  than  it  had  ever  taken  in 
speech  with  her ;  heart-music  which  told  that  his  seekings 
and  yearnings  for  the  one  and  only  beloved  were  over.  And 
was  not  her  quest  of  years  ended  likewise  ?  Truly,  there 
are  two  senses  in  which  every  search,  every  combat  may  be 
said  to  be  closed  ;  one  when  the  victor  grasps  his  prize,  or 
waves  aloft  his  sword  in  the  moment  of  triumph  ;  the  other, 
when,  bleeding,  maimed,  or  dying,  the  vanquished  sinks  to 
the  earth  without  power  to  rise ! 

A  tap  at  her  door  started  Sarah.  She  did  not  stir  until 
it  was  repeated,  and  her  father  called  her  name.  A  stream 
of  light  from  the  hall  fell  upon  her  face  as  she  admitted 
him. 

"  Daughter,  what  ails  you  ?"  was  his  exclamation. 

"  I  am  not  very  well,  father." 

"I  should  think  not,  indeed!  Come  in  here  and  lie 
down !"  He  led  her  to  the  bed,  and,  lighting  the  gas  in 
the  chamber,  came  back  to  her  and  felt  her  pulse. 

She  knew  what  was  the  direction  of  his  fears ;  but  to 
correct  his  misapprehension  was  to  subject  herself  to  further 
questioning.  Passively  she  received  the  pressure  of  his 
hand  upon  her  head,  the  gentle  stroking  of  the  disordered 
hair ;  but,  when  he  stooped  to  kiss  her,  he  felt  that  she 
trembled. 


HUSKS.  95 

"  Dear  child !  I  shall  never  forgive  myself  if  you  have 
taken  the  fever  from  me  !" 

"  I  do  not  fear  that,  father.  My  head  aches,  and  I  am 
very  tired.  I  have  been  so  busy  all  day,  you  know." 

"Yes,  and  for  many  other  days.  You  are,  without 
doubt,  overworked.  I  hope  this  may  prove  to  be  all  the 
matter  with  you.  A  night's  rest  may  quite  cure  you." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  she  answered,  chokingly.  "  You  will  excuse 
me  to ,  down-stairs  ?" 

"  Certainly.  Would  you  like  to  have  your  mother  come 
up  to  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  no,  sir !  Please  tell  her  there  is  no  need  of  it.  I 
shall  be  better  to-morrow." 

"  Your  sister" — and  he  looked  more  serious,  instead  of 
smiling — "  has  a  visitor.  Her  friend  is  an  acquaintance 
of  yours,  also,  it  appears — the  Mr.  Benson  whom  you  met 
at  your  aunt's  in  July." 

"  Yes,  sir.     I  know  it." 

"I  understood  you  to  say  that  Lucy  had  never  said 
positively  who  her  lover  was ;  but  this  was  not  the  name 
you  told  me  of,  as  the  person  whom  you  imagined  him  to 
be." 

"  I  was  misled  for  a  time  myself,  sir,"  replied  the  poor 
girl,  pressing  her  temples  between  her  palms. 

"  I  see  that  I  am  tiring  you.  Forgive  me !  but  it  is  so 
natural  to  consult  you  in  every  thing.  I  must  trouble  you 
with  some  questions,  which  it  is  important  should  be  an 
swered  to-night,  before  this  gentleman  and  myself  have  any 
conversation.  Is  Mr.  Benson  a  man  whom  you  consider 
worthy  of  trust  ?  Your  mother  represents  him  to  be  enor 
mously  wealthy — a  reputation  I  had  concluded  he  possessed, 
from  Lucy's  pet  name  for  him.  It  is  well  that  your  sister 
has  a  prospect  of  marrying  advantageously  in  this  respect, 
for  she  would  never  be  happy  in  an  humble  sphere ;  but 


96  HUSKS. 

antiquated  people  like  myself  regard  other  things  as  of 
greater  consequence  in  concluding  a  bargain  for  a  lifetime. 
Is  your  opinion  of  Mr.  Benson  favorable  as  to  disposition, 
principles,  and  conduct?'* 

Sarah's  head  rested  on  the  foot-board  of  her  couch,  in 
weariness  or  pain,  as  she  rejoined :  "  I  saw  and  heard  noth 
ing  of'him,  during  our  intercourse  in  the  country,  that  was 
not  creditable.  His  uncle  and  aunt  are  very  partial  to  him, 
and  speak  of  his  character  in  high  terms.  Their  testimony 
ought  to  have  weight  with  you,  for  they  have  known  him 
from  his  boyhood  up." 

"  It  ought  and  does !  I  am  relieved  to  hear  all  this ! 
very  much  pleased !"  said  Mr.  Hunt,  emphatically.  "  I  have 
all  confidence  in  Nathan  Benson's  judgment  and  integrity. 
I  hope  his  nephew  is  as  sterling  a  man.  Thus  far,"  he  con 
tinued,  playfully,  "  I  have  learned  but  one  thing  to  his  dis 
credit,  and  that  is,  that  having  seen  this  one  of  my  daughters, 
he  could  afterwards  fall  in  love  with  the  other." 

"  I  am  not  beautiful  and  good  like  Lucy,  father." 

"  Very  dear  and  lovely  in  my  eyes,  my  child !  Again 
forgive  me  for  having  worried  your  poor  head  with  my 
inquiries.  I  was  unwilling  to  decide  a  matter  where  Lucy's 
happiness  was  involved,  without  obtaining  your  evidence 
in  the  case.  A  last  good-night !  and  God  bless  you,  my 
dearest,  best  daughter!'* 

Sarah  held  up  her  face  for  his  kiss  without  attempting  to 
speak.  This  burning  ordeal,  the  harder  to  endure  because 
unexpected,  was  over.  She  was  as  weak  as  a  child  with 
conflicting  passions  when  she  arose  and  endeavored  to 
undress.  After  stopping  several  times  to  regain  breath  and 
strength,  she  was  at  last  ready  to  creep  into  bed,  there  to 
lie  until  morning  broke,  sleepless  and  suffering. 

Her  sharpened  senses  could  discern  her  father  and 
mother's  voices  in  the  sitting-room,  in  confidential  talk — in- 


HUSKS.  .  y< 

terrupted,  by  and  by,  by  Lucy's  pure  mellow  tones,  appar 
ently  conveying  some  message  to  the  former.  Its  import 
was  easily  surmised,  for  his  .step  was  then  heard  in  the  hall 
and  on  the  stairs,  until  he  reached  the  parlor  where  Philip 
awaited  him.  Their  conference  did  not  occupy  more  than 
twenty  minutes,  which  time  Lucy  spent  with  her  mother — 
how  gayly,  Sarah  could  judge  by  the  laugh  that,  again  and 
again,  reached  her  room.  Mr.  Hunt  returned,  spoke  a  few 
sentences  in  his  calm,  grave  way,  and  the  closing  door  was 
followed  by  a  flutter  of  silk  and  fall  of  gliding  footsteps,  as 
Lucy  went  down  to  her  now  formally  and  fully  betrothed 
husband. 

"  Husband !"  Yes !  it  was  even  so !  Henceforth  the 
lives  of  the  pair  were  to  be  as  one  in  interest,  in  aims,  in 
affection.  Erelong,  they  would  have  no  separate  outward 
existence  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Was  his  chosen  love, 
then,  in  a  truer  and  higher  sense,  his  other  self— the  being 
sought  so  long  and  carefully?  The  pretty  fiancee  would 
have  stretched  her  cerulean  orbs  in  amazed  wonder  at  the 
ridiculous  doubt,  and  asked,  in  her  matter-of-fact  way,  how 
the  thing  could  have  happened,  if  it  had  not  been  intended  ? 
Philip's  indignant  affirmative  would  have  gained  fervor  from 
his  exultant  consciousness  of  possession — so  novel  and 
sweet.  But  one  above  stairs,  taught  sagacity  by  the 
depth  of  her  grief,  looked  further  into  the  future  than  did 
they,  and  read  there  a  different  reply. 

She  heard  the  clang  of  the  front  door  as  it  shut  after  the 
young  lover,  and,  in  the  still  midnight,  the  echoes,  faint  and 
fainter,  of  his  retreating  footsteps — the  same  free,  light 
tread  she  used  to  hearken  for  in  porch  and  hall  of  that  river 
side  farm-house ;  and  as  the  remembrance  came  over  her 
she  turned  her  face  to  the  wall,  murmuring  passionately, 
"  Oh  !  if  I  could  never,  never  see  him  again !" 

This  feeling,  whether  born  of  cowardice  or  desperation, 


98  HUSKS. 

was  the  ruling  one,  when  her  mother  looked  in  upon  her 
before  breakfast,  and  expressed  her  concern  at  finding  her 
still  in  bed. 

"  I  am  not  well  enough  to  get  up,  mother !"  Sarah  said 
sincerely,  and  Mrs.  Hunt,  reading  in  the  parched  lips  and 
blood-shot  eyes  proof  of  the  justice  of  the  fears  her  husband 
had  expressed  to  her  the  preceding  evening,  resolved  that 
the  doctor  should  see  her  "before  she  was  two  hours 
older." 

In  vain  Sarah  entreated  that  this  should  not  be  done,  and 
prophesied  her  recovery  without  his  assistance.  For  once 
her  parents  were  a  unit  in  sentiment  and  action,  and  the 
physician  was  summoned  to  his  second  patient. 

"  All  febrile  symptoms  were  to  some  extent  contagious," 
he  affirmed ;  "  and  while  Mr.  Hunt's  malady  was  not  gener 
ally  classed  with  such,  it  was  very  possible  that  his  daugh 
ter  had  contracted  an  analogous  affection,  in  her  constant 
attendance  upon  him." 

This  decision  Sarah  dared  not  overthrow,  much  as  she 
wished  to  do  so,  when  she  saw  how  it  afflicted  her  father. 

Undaunted  by  any  fears  of  infection,  Lucy  repaired  to 
her  sister's  chamber  when  she  had  despatched  her  break 
fast. 

"  Isn't  it  too  provoking  that  you  should  be  sick  just  at 
this  time  ?"  she  began,  perching  herself,  school-girl  fashion, 
on  the  foot  of  the  bed.  "  I  really  admired  your  staying  up 
stairs  last  night ;  but  I  did  not  dream  that  you  really  were 
not  well.  I  promise  you  that  I  made  capital  of  your  ab 
sence.  I  told  Philip  (how  odd  it  sounds,  doesn't  it  ?)  that 
you  ran  away  when  he  rang  the  bell,  because  you  had  made 
a  fright  of  yourself  by  crying  over  the  prospect  of  my  leav 
ing  you,  and  that  I  had  no  doubt  that  you  had  grieved 
yourself  into  a  headache.  He  wanted  to  know  forthwith  if 
you  objected  to  my  marrying  him ;  but  I  said  '  No ;'  that 


HUSKS.  99 

you  were  charmed  with  the  match,  and  preferred  him  to  any 
other  admirer  I  had  ever  had ;  but  that  we — you  and  I — 
were  so  devoted  to  one  another,  that  it  was  acute  agony  to 
us  to  think  of  parting.  About  ten  o'clock  he  asked  to  see 
father,  and  they  soon  settled  affairs.  When  I  went  down 
again,  he  tried  a  little  ring  on  my  finger  that  he  always 
wears,  and  it  fitted  nicely.  So  I  knew  what  it  meant  when 
he  put  it  back  upon  his  own  hand,  and  that  with  that  for  a 
measure  he  could  not  go  wrong  in  getting  the  engagement- 
ring.  I  do  hope  it  will  be  a  diamond.  Vic.  West  declares 
that  she  would  not  accept  any  thing  else.  I  considered  for 
a  while  whether  I  couldn't  give  him  a  delicate  hint  on  the 
subject,  but  I  did  not  see  how  I  could  manage  it.  And 
don't  you  think,  while  I  was  studying  about  this,  he  fancied 
I  was  sober  over  '  the  irrevocable  step  I  had  taken,'  and  be 
came  miserable  and  eloquent  at  the  suspicion !  I  wish  I 
could  remember  all  he  said !  It  was  more  in  your  line  than 
mine !  But  he  is  a  good,  sensible  fellow,  with  all  his  romantic 
notions.  He  has  a  handsome  fortune,  independent  of  his 
father,  left  him  by  his  grandfather,  and  we  are  to  live  in 
Georgia  part  of  the  year  only,  and  travel  every  summer. 
Mother  says  his  account  of  his  prospects  and  so  forth  to 
father  was  very  satisfactory,  but  she  has  not  got  at  all  the  par 
ticulars  yet.  Father  is  so  worried  about  your  sickness  that 
he  cannot  spare  a  thought  for  any  thing  or  anybody  else. 
The  light  from  that  window  hurts  your  eyes — doesn't  it  ?  I 
will  let  down  the  shade." 

But  Sarah  lay  with  her  hand  protecting  her  eyes,  when 
her  sister  resumed  her  position  and  narration. 

"  We  are  to  be  married  in  December.  He  begged  hard 
for  an  earlier  day,  but  I  was  sure  that  I  could  not  be  ready 
before  then.  As  it  is,  we  shall  have  to  hurry  when  it  comes 
to  the  dresses,  for,  in  order  to  get  the  latest  fashions,  we 
must  wait  until  the  eleventh  hour.  Won't  I  c  astonish  the 


100  HUSKS. 

natives'  down  South  ?  I  couldn't  state  this  to  Philip,  you 
know ;  so  I  referred  him  to  mother,  who  is  to  say,  when  he 
asks  her,  that  her  preference  would  be  to  keep  me  just  as 
long  as  she  possibly  can.  JEntre  nous,  my  dear,  our  good 
mamma  has  said  truer  things  than  this  bit  of  sentiment — 
but  riimporte  !  These  embellishments  are  necessary  to  such 
transactions." 

Miss  West's  friendship  or  curiosity  could  not  endure  lon 
ger  suspense,  and  the  intelligence  that  she  was  below 
checked  the  monologue. 

"  I  will  run  up  again  whenever  I  can,"  promised  Lucy, 
by  way  of  compensation  for  her  abrupt  departure,  "  and 
keep  up  your  spirits  by  telling  you  all  that  I  can  about  our 
concerns.  But  Philip  is  to  take  me  to  ride  this  afternoon. 
I  forbade  him  to  come  here  before  then,  but  I  don't  much 
think  that  he  can  stay  away.  Don't  be  vexed  if  you  don't 
see  me  again  in  some  hours.  Vic.  and  I  are  about  to  settle 
our  trousseaux.  If  you  believe  me,  we  have  never  been 
able  yet  to  decide  upon  the  wedding-dresses  !" 

And  she  vanished,  warbling  delicious  roulades  from  a 
duet  she  had  engaged  to  sing  that  evening  with  her  betroth 
ed.  She  showed  herself  np-stairs  again,  when  she  was  rea 
dy  for  her  ride  and  the  carriage  at  the  door — very  fair,  very 
bright^  and  very  happy.  She  was  exquisitely  dressed,  and 
called  on  her  sister  to  admire  her  toilet  and  envy  her  her 
escort. 

Sarah  listened  to  the  cheerful  exchange  of  cautions  and 
promises  between  her  mother  and  Philip,  at  the  door  beneath 
her  open  window,  and  to  the  rolling  wheels  that  bore  them 
away. 

Mrs.  Hunt  received  none  of  her  friends  that  day,  being 
busy  "  getting  things  to  rights  ;"  and  for  a  like  reason  she 
absented  herself  from  her  child's  sick-room,  content  with 
sending  up  Jeannie,  now  and  then,  to  inquire  how  she  was 


H  USK8. 


101; 


getting  on.  In  the  abject  loneliness  that  oppressed  her, 
when  the 'first  violence  of  passidns  had  spent  itself,  Sarah 
would  have  been  relieved  in  some  measure  by  the  society  of 
this  pet  sister,  the  sole  object  upon  earth,  besides  her  father, 
that  had  ever  repaid  her  love  with  any  thing  like  equal  at 
tachment.  But  the  child  shrank,  like  most  others  of  her 
age,  from  the  quiet  dark  chamber  of  illness,  and  longed  to 
follow  her  mother  through  the  house,  in  her  tour  of  obser 
vation  and  renovation.  Sarah  detected  her  restlessness  and 
ill-concealed  dislike  of  the  confinement  imposed  upon  her 
by  compliance  with  her  humble  petition, — 

"  Please,  Jeannie,  stay  a  little  while  with  your  poor  sis 
ter  !"  And  her  sensitive  spirit  turned  upon  itself,  as  a  final 
stroke  of  torture,  the  conviction  that  here,  also,  love  and 
care  had  been  wasted. 

"  Go,  then !"  she  said,  rather  roughly,  as  Jeannie  wavered, 
"  and  you  need  not  come  up  again  to-day.  I  know  it  is  not 
pleasant  for  you  to  be  here.  Tell  mother  I  want  nothing 
but  quiet." 

"I  have  had  a  splendid  drive!"  said  Lucy,  rustling  her 
many  flounces  into  the  door  at  dusk. 

The  figure  upon  the  bed  made  no  response  by  motion  or 
word. 

"I  do  believe  she  is  asleep  !"  added  the  intruder,  lowering 
her  voice.  "  I  suppose  she  is  tired  and  needs  rest."  And  she 
went  out  on  tiptoe. 

Sarah  was  awake  a  minute  later,  when  her  father  came 
in  to  see  her.  She  smiled  at  him,  as  he  "  hoped  she  was 
better,"  and  asked  whether  she  might  not  get  up  on  the 
morrow.  Mr.  Hunt  thought  not.  The  doctor's  opinion 
was  that  perfect  repose  might  ward  off  the  worse  features 
of  the  disease.  She  had  better  keep  her  bed  for  a  couple 
of  days  yet,  even  should  she  feel  well  enough  to  be  about. 
He  sent  up  her  dinner  to  her  room  with  his  own  hands  ;  and 


1Q21 


HUSKS. 


when  she  learned  this,  she  strove  to  do  some  feeble  justice 
to  the  viands,  but  without  success. 

Philip  dined  with  the  family  that  day  by  special  appoint 
ment  ;  and,  shortly  after  his  arrival,  Lucy  again  presented 
herself  in  that  small  third-story  bedroom. 

"  Choose !  which  hand  will  you  take  ?"  she  cried,  hiding 
both  behind  her. 

Sarah  would  make  no  selection ;  and,  after  a  little  more 
trifling,  the  elder  sister  brought  into  sight  two  elegant  bou 
quets,  and  laid  them  beside  the  invalid. 

"  This  is  Philip's  present — '  a  fraternal  remembrance,'  he 
told  me  to  say.  Here  is  his  card.  Doesn't  he  write  a  love 
ly  hand  ?  The  other,  is  from  your  admirer,  Mr.  Hammond. 
What  a  sly  puss  you  were  to  make  such  a  catch  as  he  is, 
without  dropping  us  a  hint !  He  is  rather  too  sober  for  my 
notions ;  but  he  is  getting  rich  fast,  they  say.  He  left  those 
flowers  at  the  door  himself,  and  insisted  upon  seeing  father 
for  a  moment,  to  know  exactly  how  you  were.  Cannot  you 
hurry  up  somewhat,  and  let  us  have  a  double  wedding  ?  I 
showed  the  bouquet  to  Philip,  and  told  him  of  your  con 
quest,  and  he  was  as  much  pleased  at  your  prospects  as  I 
was.  Did  you  ever  see  such  magnificent  roses  ?  your  beau 
paid  five  dollars,  at  the  lowest  computation,  for  these  flowers. 
I  congratulate  you  upon  these  signs  of  liberality !" . 

Sarah  had  heard  only  a  portion  of  this  speech.  Her  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  the  card  her  sister  had  put  into  her  hand  : 
"  Will  Miss  Sarah  accept  this  trifling  token  of  regard  from 
one  who  is  her  stanch  friend,  and  hopes,  in  time,  to  have  a 
nearer  claim  upon  her  esteem  ?" 

"  Very  neatly  turned,  is  it  not  ?"  said  Lucy,  satisfiedly. 
She  had  read  it  on  her  way  up-stairs.  "  What  shall  I  say  to 
him  from  you  ?" 

"  Thank  him,  and  explain  that  I  am  not  able  to  write  a 
reply." 


HUSKS.  103 


This  meagre  return  of  compliments  assumed  a  tone  both 
grateful  and  sisterly  as  Lucy  rehearsed  it  to  the  donor  of 
the  fragrant  offering.  The  barest  phrase  of  civility  came 
gracefully  and  meaningly  from  her  tongue.  Serene  in  mind 
and  countenance,  she  seated  herself  at  the  piano,  and,  as 
Philip  took  his  stand  at  her  side,  he  wondered  if  the  world 
held  another  couple  more  entirely  adapted  each  to  the  pe 
culiar  soul-needs  of  the  other,  more  perfectly  happy  in  the 
knowledge  of  mutual  affection.  Like  the  generality  of  the 
orists,  your  student  of  human  nature  is  prone  to  grievous 
error  when  he  reduces  his  flawless  system  to  practice. 

In  one  respect,  the  two  certainly  harmonized  well.  Both 
loved  music;  both  sang  finely,  and  their  voices  accorded 
without  a  jarring  note. 

Mr.  Hunt  read  the  evening  papers  in  Sarah's  room ;  turn 
ing  and  folding  them  with  great  circumspection,  lest  their 
rattling  might  annoy  her,  and  detract  from  her  enjoyment 
of  the  music.  How  could  he  guess  the  infatuation  that 
caused  her  to  listen  greedily  to  sounds,  under  whose  potent 
spell  feeling  was  writhing  and  brain  reeling?  In  every 
pause  between  the  songs  there  arose  in  her  memory  two 
lines  of  a  poem  read  long  ago,  when  or  where  she  knew 
not: — 

"Seek  not  to  soothe  that  proud,  forsaken  heart 
With  strains  whose  sweetness  maddens  as  they  fall!" 

The  performers  had  just  completed  a  duet,  in  which  each 
voice  supported  and  developed,  while  blending  with  the 
other,  when  Lucy  took  up  the  prelude  to  a  simpler  lay  ;  re 
peating  it  twice  over  with  skilful  variations,  as  if  she  were, 
meantime,  carrying  on  a  colloquy  with  her  companion,  that 
delayed  the  vocal  part.  This  was  ended  by  Philip's  raising 
alone  the  burden  of  the  plaintive  German  air  Sarah  remem 
bered  so  truly — "  The  long,  long,  weary  day." 


a  u  s  K  s . 

As  his  voice,  full  and  strong,  with  its  indescribable  and 
irresistible  under-current  of  pathos — flowing  out  here  into 
passionate  melancholy — swelled  and  floated  through  the 
quiet  house,  Sarah  sat  upright. 

"Father!  father!"  she  whispered,  huskily,  "I  cannot 
bear  that !  Shut  the  doors ! — all  of  them,  or  I  shall  go 
mad !" 

She  was  obeyed ;  Mr.  Hunt  hurrying  down  to  the  par 
lors  to  silence  the  lovers,  with  the  representation  that  Sarah 
was  too  nervous  to  endure  the  excitement  of  music.  For 
the  remainder  of  the  evening,  a  profound  stillness  pervaded 
the  upper  part  of  the  mansion — a  silence  that,  to  Sarah, 
throbbed  with  the  melody  she  had  tried  to  hush ;  and  look 
where  she  might,  she  gazed  into  that  rainy,  ghastly  night — 
the  pale,  comfortless  watcher,  the  shadowy  type  of  her 
deeper,  more  blighting  sorrow. 


HUSKS.  105 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

FOB  three  days  Philip  Benson  lingered  near  his  beautiful 
enslaver ;  on  the  fourth,  he  carried  a  sad,  yet  trustful  heart 
upon  his  Southern  journey.  Sarah  had  not  seen  him  once 
since  the  evening  of  his  coming.  Through  Lucy,  she  re 
ceived  his  adieux  and  wishes  for  her  speedy  recovery.  On 
the  next  day  but  one  she  left  her  room,  and  appeared  again 
in  the  family  circle — now  complete  in  all  its  parts. 

In  that  short  season  of  bodily  prostration,  the  work  of 
years  had  been  wrought  upon  her  inner  life.  Outwardly 
there  was  little  alteration  save  that  effected  by  physical 
weakness ;  but  in  her  views  of  existence  and  character,  of 
affections  and  motives,  the  doubter  had  become  the  skeptic ; 
the  dreamer  the  misanthrope.  To  the  gentler  and  more 
womanly  aspirations  that  had  for  a  season  supplanted  the 
somewhat  masculine  tendencies  of  her  mind  and  tastes  had 
succeeded  a  stoicism,  like  the  frozen  calm  of  a  winter's  day, 
uniform  as  relentless.  This  was  the  surface  that  locked  and 
concealed  the  lower  depths  she  had  sworn  should  be  forever 
covered.  Others  could  and  did  live  without  hearts.  She 
could  thrive  as  well  upon  4he  husks  and  Sodoni  apples  of 
this  world's  goods  as  did  they ;  holding  as  Life's  chief  good, 
complete  and  final  subjugation  of  all  genuine  emotion, 
which,  at  the  best,  was  but  the  rough  ore — fit  for  nothing 
until  purged,  refined,  and  polished  in  its  glitter.  She  found 
no  other  creed  that  suited  her  present  desperate  mood  so 
well  as  the  most  heartless  code  of  the  thorough  worldling 
— the  devotee  to  show,  and  fashion,  and  wealth. 
5* 


106  HUSKS. 

Such  was  her  mother,  whose  domestic  virtues  were  extol 
led  by  all  who  knew  her;  s-uch,  behind  her  mask  of  tender 
grace  and  amiability,  the  sister  who  had  won,  by  these  fac 
titious  attractions,  the  heart  for  which  Sarah  would  have 
perilled  life,  sacrificed  ease  and  inclination,  bowed  her  proud 
spirit  to  the  estate  of  bond-servant  to  his  every  caprice, 
become  the  willing  slave  to  his  tyrannical  behest.  Yet 
Philip  Benson  was  a  professed  judge  of  character ;  a  man 
of  sense,  education,  and  experience,  and,  knowing  both  girls 
as  he  did,  he  had  made  his  choice ;  set  the  stamp  of  his 
approval  upon  the  shining,  rather  than  the  solid  metal. 
The  world,  as  its  young  would-be  disciple  believed  she  had 
at  length  learned,  was  made  up  of  two  classes :  those  who 
floated,  and  those  who  sank.  To  the  latter  she  determined 
that  she  would  not  belong. 

These  and  kindred  thoughts  were  rife  in  her  mind,  and 
stirring  up  many  a  spring  of  gall  within  her  bosom,  one 
morning  as  she  lay  back  in  an  arm-chair  in  the  sitting-room, 
listening  with  secret  scorn  to  the  prattle  of  the  pair  of  be 
trothed  maidens — Lucy  and  her  friend.  Lucy's  engagement- 
ring  was  a  diamond,  or,  rather,  a  modest  cluster  of  these 
precious  stones,  whose  extreme  beauty  did  not  strike  the 
casual  eye  with  the  startling  effect  of  Victoria's  more  showy 
gage  $  amour.  This  apparent  difference  in  the  value  of  the 
two  was  the  source  of  many  discussions  and  considerable 
heart-burning,  disguised,  of  course,  and  threatened  in  time 
to  produce  a  decided  coolness  between  the  attached  wearers 
of  the  articles  under  debate. 

On  this  particular  day,  Victoria,  after  some  adroit  skir 
mishing,  brought  out  as  a  "  poser  "  the  fact  that,  to  lay  the 
question  to  rest  without  more  ado,  she  had,  since  their  last 
interview,  been  to  Tiffany's,  and  had  her  ring  valued. 
Lucy's  face  was  all  aglow  as  her  soul-sister  named  the  price 
of  her  treasure.  She  clapped  her  hands  joyously. 


107 


"Isn't  that  the  joke  of  the  season,  mother  ?" — as  that 
personage  entered.  "  Don't  you  think  that  Vic.  was  as 
cunning  as  we  were?  She  carried  her  ring  to  Tiffany's 
yesterday,  too.  Wouldn't  it  have  been  too  funny  if  we  had 
met  there  ?  Mine  came  from  there,  they  said,  and  it  cost  a 
cool  fifty  dollars  more  than  yours  did,  dear  !" 

Victoria  flushed  hotly;  but  further  controversy  being 
useless  and  dangerous  to  her,  she  acquiesced  with  assumed 
carelessness  in  Lucy's  proposal,  that,  since  both  were  suited, 
the  rival  brilliants  should  not  be  again  referred  to  as  a  dis 
puted  matter.  They  accordingly  turned  to  the  safer  and 
endless  conferences  upon  the  trousseaux,  whose  purchase 
must  be  commenced  immediately. 

Their  incomplete  lists  were  produced,  compared,  and 
lengthened — Mrs.  Hunt  suggesting  and  amending;  Sarah 
surveying  the  busy  group  with  the  same  intense  disdain  she 
had  experienced  throughout  the  conversation. 

"  Oh,  I  forgot  to  tell  you !  Margaret  Hauton  called  on  me 
yesterday!"  exclaimed  Victoria.  "Did  she  come  here, 
too  ?" 

"Yes;  but  we  were  out.  What  did  she  say?"  queried 
Lucy,  breathlessly. 

"  Why,  the  stupid  creature  never  alluded  to  my  engage 
ment  ;  and  when  I  mentioned  yours,  pretended  not  to  have 
heard  of  it  before.  I  took  care  she  should  not  go  away  as 
ignorant  on  the  subject  as  she  had  come,  and — I  know  it 
was  wicked  in  me,  but  she  deserved  it — all  the  time  I  was 
praising  your  Goldfinch,  and  telling  how  handsome  and  lib 
eral  he  was,  I  sat  looking  down  at  my  new  ring,  slipping  it 
up  and  down  my  finger,  as  if  I  were  not  thinking  of  it,  but 
of  the  giver.  She  could  not  help  seeing  it,  and,  to  save  her 
life,  she  could  not  keep  from  changing  countenance." 

"  Good !"  said  Lucy.  "  Do  tell  me  how  she  is  looking 
now?" 


108  HUSKS. 

"Common  enough!  She  had  on  that  everlasting  lilac 
silk,  with  the  embroidered  flounces,  although  the  style  is 
as  old  as  the  hills — and  that  black  lace  mantle,  which,  hap 
pening  to  be  real,  she  never  leaves  off  until  near  Christmas. 
But  her  hat !  black  and  corn-color.  Think  of  it !  corn-color 
against  her  saffron  skin  !  When  I  pretend  to  lead  society, 
I  hope  to  dress  decently.  But  I  had  my  revenge  for  her 
supercilious  airs.  Mr.  Bond — George — called  in  the  after 
noon  to  take  me  to  ride.  I  told  you  of  the  handsome  span 
of  fast  horses  he  has  been  buying.  Well !  we  concluded 
to  try  the  Bloomingdale  road,  and  just  as  we  were  sailing 
along,  like  the  wind,  whom  should  we  overtake  but  my 
Lady  Hauton,  lounging  in  her  lazy  way  (she  thinks  it  aristo 
cratic!)  on  the  back  seat  of  her  father's  heavy,  clumsy 
barouche — not  a  soul  in  it  but  her  mother  and  herself. 
Didn't  I  bow  graciously  to  her  as  we  flew  by !  and  again,  as 
we  met  them  creeping  along,  when  we  were  coming  back? 
I  wouldn't  have  missed  the  chance  of  mortifying  her  for  a 
thousand  dollars." 

Lucy  laughed,  with  no  sign  of  disapprobation  at  the 
coarse,  vindictive  spirit  displayed  in  this  petty  triumph  of  a 
small  soul. 

"  How  many  evening-dresses  have  you  put  down  on  your 
paper,  Vie.  ?" 

"  Half  a  dozen  only.  I  will  get  others  as  I  need  them. 
The  styles  in  these  change  so  often  that  I  do  not  care  to 
have  too  many  at  a  time." 

"  There  you  will  have  the  advantage  of  me,"  said  Lucy, 
ingenuously.  "  It  will  not  be  so  easy  a  matter  to  replenish 
my  stock  of  wearable  dresses.  I  wish  I  had  asked  Philip 
about  the  Savannah  stores.  I  wonder  if  he  knows  any 
thing  about  them  ?" 

"He  ought  to — being  such  a  connoisseur  in  ladies' 
dress.  I  declare  I  have  been  absolutely  afraid  of  him  since 


HUSKS.  109 

I  heard  him  say  that  he  considered  a  lady's  apparel  a 
criterion  of  her  character." 

"He  has  exquisite  taste!"  said  Lucy,  with  pardonable 
pride  in  her  lover.  "  It  is  a  positive  pleasure  to  dress  for 
him.  He  sees  and  appreciates  every  thing  that  I  could 
wish  to  have  him  notice.  He  has  often  described  to  me 
what  I  wore,  and  how  I  looked  and  acted  the  evening  he 
fell  in  love.  How  little  we  can  guess  what  is  before  us !  I 
did  not  care  to  go  to  the  hop  that  night,  for  Mr.  Finch  was 
to  wait  on  me,  and  he  was  so  stupid,  you  know,  after 
we  discovered  that  it  was  a  mistake  about  his  being  rich. 
I  think  I  see  Trim  now,  with  his  red  face  and  short  neck ! 
Oh  dear !  the  fun  we  had  over  that  poor  man !  I  told  you — 
didn't  I,  Sarah — that  we  named  him  Bullfinch,  because  he 
looked  so  much  like  one  ?  When  Phil,  came  we  called  him 
Goldfinch,  and  the  two  went  by  these  names  among  us 
girls.  The  Bullfinch  heard  of  it,  and  he  was  ridiculously 
angry !  So  I  put  on  a  white  tarlatan,  that  one  with  the 
double  jupe,  you  know,  Vic.,  festooned  with  white  moss 
rose-buds,  and  I  had  -nothing  but  a  tea-rose  in  my  hair.  I 
danced  once  with  the  Bullfinch — one  of  those  solemn 
quadrilles  that  are  only  fit  for  grandmothers — and  vowed 
to  myself  that  I  would  not  stand  up  again,  except  for  a 
Polka  or  the  Lancers.  While  I  was  sitting  down  by  the 
window,  saying  '  Yes'  and  ' No,'  when  Bullfinch  spoke,  Mr. 
Newman  introduced  '  Mr.  Benson'  to  '  Miss  Hunt,'  and  the 
work  was  done !" 

"No  more  waltzing,  then!"  was  Victoria's  slyly  mali 
cious  sequel. 

"  I  did  not  care  so  much  for  that  as  I  thought  I  should  !" 
replied  easy-tempered  Lucy.  "  You  cannot  find  a  man  who 
has  not  some  drawback.  Before  I  had  a  chance  for  another 
round,  mother  there  managed  to  telegraph  me  that  my 
fresh  acquaintance  was  worth  catching.  She  had  gotten 


110  HUSKS. 

his  whole  story  out  of  Mrs.  Newman.  He  let  me  know, 
pretty  soon,  that  he  had  some  queer  scruples  about  fancy 
dances,  and  I  thought  it  best  to  humor  him  for  one  evening, 
or  until  I  should  ascertain  whether  he  was  really  '  taken'  or 
not.  I  have  never  repented  my  self-denial,  although  I  grant 
that  it  cost  me  a  struggle  to  give  up  '  the  German.'  " 

"  George  lets  me  waltz  to  my  heart's  content,"  said  Vic 
toria.  "  He  is  the  very  soul  of  indulgence.  As  to  laces — 
I  have  not  a  thing  fit  to  wear.  I  must  get  every  thing  new. 
I  am  glad  of  it !  I  enjoy  shopping  for  them.  If  I  have  a 
passion,  it  is  for  laces !" 

A  sneer  curled  Sarah's  lip,  and  Victoria,  happening  to 
glance  that  way,  could  not  mistake  its  application,  whatever 
she  might  surmise  as  to  its  origin. 

"  I  suppose  you  despise  us  as  a  couple  of  love-sick  girls, 
Sarah  ?"  she  said,  with  a  simper  designed  to  be  sentimental, 
whereas  it  was  spiteful  instead. 

"  I  think  love  the  least  dangerous  of  your  complaints," 
was  the  rejoinder. 

"  What  do  yo-u  mean  ?" 

"  Just  what  I  said !" 

"  She  means  that  people  do  not  die  of  love  in  these  days," 
exclaimed  Lucy,  whose  pleasure-loving  nature  always  shud 
dered  at  the  idea  of  altercation  in  her  presence ;  her  sensa 
tions,  during  the  occasional  sparrings  of  her  sister  and  her 
friend,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  of  an  innocent 
white  rabbit,  into  whose  burrow  a  couple  of  belligerent 
hedgehogs  have  forced  their  way. 

"  You  will  understand  us  better  one  day,  when  your  turn 
comes,"  said  Victoria,  with  magnanimous  condescension.  "  I 
shall  remind  you  then  of  your  good  opinion  of  us." 

"  You  may." 

"I  would  give  any  thing  to  have  you  engaged,  just  to  see 
how  you  would  behave.  Would  not  you,  Lucy  ?" 


HUSKS.  Ill 

"  Yes ;  if  she  were  likely  to  do  as  well  as  we  are  doing. 
Philip  says  that  you  have  many  fine  qualities,  Sarah.  He 
quite  admires  you." 

The  complacent  betrothed  had  none  but  the  most  amiable 
intentions  in  makitig  this  patronizing  speech  ;  therefore,  the 
angry  blood  that  surged  over  her  sister's  face  at  hearing  it 
would  have  been  to  her  but  the  blush  of  gratified  vanity, 
had  not  the  sparkle  of  her  eye  and  the  contemptuous  con 
tortion  of  her  mouth  undeceived  her. 

"  Indeed  he  did  say  so !"  she  hastened  to  repeat.  "  And 
he  was  in  earnest !  He  said  something  else  which  I  don't 
mind  telling,  now  thafe  he  belongs  to  me  fast  and  sure.  He 
said  that  he  sat  up  until  twelve  o'clock  one  night  after  you 
had  been  out  boating,  deliberating  whether  he  should  be 
smitten  with  you  or  not.  There !" 

The  color  retreated  as  quickly  as  it  had -come.  But  for 
the  consciousness  of  Victoria's  malicious  scrutiny,  Sarah 
could  not  have  summoned  strength  to  utter  a  word. 

"  An  equivocal  compliment,  I  must  say !"  she  retorted, 
sarcastically.  "  Your  gallant  Georgian's  confessions  must 
have  been  ample  and  minute  indeed,  if  they  comprised  such 
distant  approaches  to  love  affairs  as  the  one  you  honor  me 
by  mentioning.  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  ever  heard  of 
another  case  where  a  gentleman  considered  it  necessary  to 
enumerate  to  his  fiancee,  not  merely  the  ladies  he  had  loved, 
but  those  whom  he  had  not !"  She  arose  and  left  the  room. 

Poor  Lucy,  rebuffed  and  overwhelmed,  caught  her  as 
tonished  breath  with  a  sigh.  "  Can  anybody  tell  me  what 
I  have  done  now  to  fret  Sarah  ?  She  is  so  cross  since  she 
was  sick !" 

"And  before,  too!"  mutely  added  Victoria's  shrug  and 
lifted  eyebrows. 

"  We  must  bear  with  her,  my  dear !"  said  the  prudent 
mother.  "  Her  nerves  are  affected,  the  doctor  says." 


112  HUSKS. 

Victoria  made  random  pencillings  upon  the  important 
list — her  thoughts  in  fast  pursuit  of  a  notion  that  had  just 
struck  her.  She  was  neither  witty  nor  intelligent ;  but  she 
possessed  some  natural  shrewdness  and  a  great  deal  more 
acquired  cunning.  She  detested  Sarah  Hunt,  and  the  pros 
pect  of  obtaining  an  engine  that  should  humble  her  arro 
gant  spirit  was  scarcely  less  tempting  than  her  own  chance 
of  effecting  an  advantageous  matrimonial  settlement. 

While  she  was  engaged  in  defining  her  suspicion  to  her 
self,  and  concerting  measures  for  gathering  information  with 
regard  to  it,  Mrs.  Hunt  went  out  on  some  household  errand, 
and  Lucy  was  obliged  to  descend  to  the  parlor  to  see  callers. 

"  Don't  go  until  I  come  back,  Vic.  It  is  the  Dunhams, 
and  they  never  stay  long,"  she  said,  at  quitting  her  asso 
ciate. 

"  Oh,  I  always,  make  myself  at  home  here,  you  know,  my 
dear !"  was  the  reply. 

Jeannie  was  sitting  on  a  cushion  near  the  chair  Sarah  had 
occupied,  dressing  her  doll. 

"  It  won't  fit!"  she  cried,  fretfully,  snatching  off  a  velvet 
basque  she  had  been  endeavoring  to  adjust  to  the  lay-figure. 

"Bring  it  to  me!  I  can  fix  it !"  offered  Victoria, -win- 
ningly.  "  It's  too  tight  just  here,  you  see.  I  will  rip  open 
the  seam  and  alter  it.  Who  makes  your  dolly's  clothes  ?" 

She  was  well  aware  that  but  one  member  of  the  family 
ever  had  leisure  to  bestow  upon  such  follies  ;  but  it  suited 
her  plan  for  Jeannie  to  introduce  her  name. 

"Sister  Sarah." 

"  This  is  a  pretty  basque.     When  did  she  make  it  ?" 

"  Yesterday." 

"  Oh !  I  thought  perhaps  she  did  it  while  you  were  in 
the  country,  and  that  the  doll  had  fattened  as  much  as  you 
did  there." 

Jeannie  laughed  heartily. 


HUSKS.  113 

"  You  had  a  nice  time  there,  I  suppose  ?"  pursued  Vic 
toria. 

"  I  guess  we  did !"  Her  eyes  danced  at  the  recollection. 
"  A  splendid  time !  I  wish  we  lived  at  Aunt  Sarah's !  There 
isn't  room  for  me  to  move  in  this  narrow  house." 

"  Mr.  Benson  was  there  a  day  or  two,  was  he  not  ?" 

"  Yes,  ma'am — a  great  many  days !  He  took  us  all 
around  the  country  in  Uncle  Nathan's  carriage.  I  love  him 
very  dearly !" 

"Did  you  ever  go  sailing  with  him?" 

"  Every  evening,  when  it  was  clear,  in  a  pretty  row-boat. 
He  used  to  take  his  guitar  along,  and  sing  for  us.  He  sings 
beautifully  !  Did  you  ever  hear  him  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes  !  Did  your  sister  always  go  boating  with  you  ?" 

The  spy,  with  all  her  hardihood,  lowered  her  voice,  and 
felt  her  face  warm  as  she  put  this  leading  question. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  always.  Mr.  Benson  would  not  have  gone 
without  her,  I  guess." 

"  Why  do  you  guess  so  ?" 

The  little  girl  smiled  knowingly.  "  Because — you  won't 
tell,  will  you?" 

"  Why  no !     Of  course  I  will  not." 

"  Charley  said  it  was  a  secret,  and  that  I  mustn't  say 
any  thing  to  sister  or  Mr.  Benson  about  it,  for  they  would 
be  angry." 

"Who  is  Charley?" 

"  Don't  you  know  ?  He  is  Aunt  Sarah's  son.  He  is 
deaf  and  dumb ;  but  he  showed  me  how  to  spell  on  my 
fingers.  He  is  a  nice  boy — " 

"  Yes  ;  but  what  was  the  secret  ?" 

"  He  said  that  Mr.  Benson — cousin  Phil.  I  call  him  when  I 
am  talking  to  him — was  sister's  beau  ;  and  he  would  take 
me  off  with  him  when  we  went  to  drive  or  walk,  because, 
you  know,  they  might  not  like  to  have  me  hear  what  they 


114  HUSKS. 

were  talking  about.  They  used  to  talk,  and  talk,  and  talk ! 
and  sister  had  a  great  deal  more  to  say,  and  looked  prettier 
than  she  does  at  home.  I  will  tell  you  something  else,  if 
you  won't  ever  let  anybody  know  it.  I  never  told  Aunt 
Sarah  even,  only  Charley.  Sister  cried  ever  so  long  the 
night  after  Cousin  Phil,  went  away.  She  woke  me  up  sob 
bing  ;  but  I  made  believe  that  I  was  asleep ;  and  in  the 
morning  her  pillow  was  right  wet.  Charley  said  that  all 
1  adies  that  he  had  read  about  in  his  books  did  so  when  their 
beaux  left  them." 

"  See  here,  my  little  lady !"  said  the  dissembler,  with  a 
startling  change  of  tone.  "  You  are  altogether  mistaken — 
you  and  Charley  both !  Mr.  Benson  is  going  to  marry  your 
sister  Lucy,  and  never  was  a  beau  of  Sarah's.  Be  very 
careful  not  to  talk  about  Charley's  wicked  story  to  your 
father,  or  mother,  or  sisters,  for  they  would  be  very  much 
displeased,  and  maybe  punish  you  for  repeating  such  fibs. 
Little  girls  ought  never  to  hear  or  know  any  thing  about 
courting  or  beaux — it's  naughty !  I  won't  tell  on  you,  if 
you  will  promise  never  to  do  so  again.  I  am  shocked  at 
you  !  Now  take  your  dolly  and  go !" 

The  frightened  child  encountered  Lucy  at  the  door.  Miss 
West  had  calculated  her  time  to  a  minute.  Her  eyes  swim 
ming  in  tears,  her  features  convulsed  with  the  effort  to  keep 
back  sob  and  outcry,  Jeannie  started  up  to  her  attic  play 
room.  Sarah's  door  was  ajar,  and  engaged  as  she  was  with 
thoughts  of  her  own  troubles  and  insults,  she  could  not  but 
remark  the  expression  of  her  darling's  face,  in  the  momen 
tary  glimpse  she  had  as  it  passed. 

"  Jeannie !  come  back !"  she  called. 

The  child  hesitated,  half  way  up  the  next  flight.  Sarah 
repeated  the  summons,  and  seeing  that  it  was  not  obeyed, 
went  up  and  took  the  rebel  by  the  hand. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?" 


HUSKS.  115 

A  reddening  and  distortion  of  visage,  and  no  reply.  Her 
sister  led  her  back  to  her  chamber,  shut  the  door,  and  put 
her  arms  around  her. 

"  Tell  me  what  ails  you,  dear  !" 

Jeannie  fell  upon  her  comforter's  neck — the  repressed 
torrent  breaking  through  all  restraint.  "  Oh,  sister,  I  can't 
help  crying  !  Miss  Vic.  West  has  been  scolding  me !" 

"  Scolding  you !  She  !  I  will  go  down  and  speak  to  her 
this  instant !  How  dared  she  ?" 

"  No,  no  !  please  don't !  She  told  me  not  to  say  any 
thing  to  you  about  it." 

"  The  contemptible  coward !"  said  Sarah,  between  her 
teeth.  "  How  came  you  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
her?" 

"Mother  and  sister  Lucy  went  down-stairs,  and  she  said 
she  would  alter  my  doll's  basque,  and — and — and"  a  fresh 
burst  of  lamentation. 

"  There,  that  will  do,  pet !  I  see  that  she  only  made  it 
worse!"  soothed  Sarah,  believing  that,  in  the  unfinished 
state  of  dolly's  wardrobe,  she  had  discovered  the  root  of 
the  trouble.  "Never  mind,  dear!  I  will  set  all  that  to 
rights  directly.  Now  wipe  your  eyes,  and  let  me  tell  you 
something.  This  afternoon  father  is  to  take  me  to  ride,  and 
you  shall  go,  too.  As  for  Miss  Victoria,  we  will  let  her  pass, 
and  keep  out  of  her  way,  hereafter." 

Secretly,  she  was  very  angry — far  more  so  than  she  was 
willing  to  have  the  child  suspect.  As  the  patient  fingers 
repaired  the  effects  of  the  original  bad  fit,  and  Miss  West's 
meddling,  Jeannie  stood  by,  thankful  and  interested,  yet 
ashamed  to  look  her  wronged  sister  in  the  eyes.  Not  that 
she  had  the  remotest  conception  of  the  mischief  that  might 
grow  out  of  her  imprudent  disclosures ;  but  she  had  broken 
faith  with  Charley,  been  accused  of  tattling  and  indelicacy, 
and  warned  too  stringently  against  repeating  the  offence  to 


116  HUSKS. 

suffer  her  to  relieve  her  conscience  by  a  full  confession  to 
the  being  she  most  loved,  and  honored. 

At  four  o'clock  Sarah  and  her  charge  were  ready,  accord 
ing  to  Mr.  Hunt's  appointment.  ^The  carriage  was  likewise 
punctual ;  but  from  it  stepped,  not  the  parent  of  the  expect 
ant  girls,  but  a  younger  and  taller  man — in  short,  Mr.  Hunt's 
particular  favorite — Lewis  Hammond.  Jeannie,  who  had 
stationed  herself  at  an  upper  window  to  watch  for  her 
father's  appearance,  was  still  exclaiming  over  this  disap 
pointment,  and  wondering  why  "  Mr.  Hammond  must  call 
just  now  to  keep  sister  at  home,"  when  the  footman  brought 
up  a  note  to  Sarah. 

It  was  from  Mr.  Hunt,  explaining  the  cause  of  his  un 
looked-for  detention  at  the  bank,  and  stating  that  Mr.  Ham 
mond,  whom  he  had  met  earlier  in  the  day,  and  acquainted 
with  his  design  of  giving  his  daughter  this  ride,  happened 
to  drop  in,  and  seeing  him  engaged  with  business,  had  asked 
leave  to  officiate  as  his  substitute  in  the  proposed  airing. 
He  urged  Sarah  to  take  Jeannie  along,  and  not  .hesitate 
to  accept  Mr.  Hammond's  polite  attendance,  adding,  in 
phrase  brief,  but  sincere,  how  lightly  he  should  esteem  his 
hour  of  extra  labor,  if  he  knew  that  she  was  not  a  sufferer 
by  it. 

Sarah  passed  the  note  to  her  mother,  and  drew  her  shawl 
about  her  shoulders. 

"Of  course  you'll  go!"  said  Mrs.  Hunt,  radiant  with 
gratification.  "  It  is  perfectly  proper,  and  Mr.  Hammond  is 
very  kind,  I'm  sure." 

She  was  hurrying  towards  the  door  to  convey  in  person 
her  thanks  for  his  gallantry,  when  Sarah  spoke  firmly  and 
very  coolly : 

"  I  will  say  whatever  is  necessary  to  Mr.  Hammond,  if 
you  please,  mother.  I  shall  go  because  father  wishes  it,  and 
for  no  other  reason.  Come,  Jeannie !" 


HUSKS.  117 

"  Won't  she  be  in  your  way  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Hunt,  awed, 
but  not  extinguished. 

"  No,  madam."- 

Sarah  suffered  Mr.  Hammond  to  place  her  in  the  carriage, 
and  himself  opposite  to  her ;  and  keeping  before  her  mind 
carefully  the  fact  that  he  was  her  father's  friend,  perhaps 
the  savior  of  his  life,  she  unbent,  as  much  as  she  could, 
from  her  distant,  ungracious  bearing,  to  sustain  her  part  of 
the  conversation.  She  must  have  been  purblind  not  to  see 
through  her  mother's  wishes,  and  mano3uvres  for  their  ac 
complishment  ;  but  to  these  views  she  was  persuaded  that 
Mr.  Hammond  was  no  party.  She  saw  in  him  a  sedate, 
rather  reserved  gentleman  of  thirty-two  or  three,  who  had 
passed  the  heyday  of  youthful  loves  and  joys ;  sensible  and 
cultivated  to  an  uncommon  degree  for  a  man  of  business — 
for  such  he  emphatically  was. 

A  poor  boy  in  the  beginning,  he  had  fortunately  attracted 
the  regard  of  a  thriving  New  York  merchant,  and  retained 
that  favor  through  the  years  that  had  elevated  him  from  the 
lowest  clerkship  to  a  partnership  in  the  now  opulent  firm. 
For  probity  and  punctuality  no  man  in  the  city  had  a  higher 
reputation  ;  but  his  virtues  were  of  that  quiet  nature  which, 
while  they  inevitably  retain  regard  once  won,  are  slow  to 
gain  admiration.  To  matrimonial  speculators,  as  in  financial 
circles,  he  was  known  as  a  "  safe  chance,"  and  many  a  pru 
dent  mamma  on  his  list  of  acquaintances  would  have  rejoiced 
had  he  selected  her  daughter  as  mistress  of  his  heart  and 
fortune.  Whether  he  was  aware  of  this  or  not  could  not 
have  been  determined  by  his  modest,  but  dignified  deport 
ment.  He  did  not  avoid  company ;  went  whither  he  was 
invited,  and,  when  there,  comported  himself  like  a  conscien 
tious  member  of  society,  talking,  dancing,  or  listening,  with 
as  due  regard  to  law  and  order  as  he  manifested  in  his  daily 
business  life.  Fast  girls  called  him  "  awfully  matter-of-fact," 


118  HUSKS. 

and  "  terribly  sensible ;"  fast  youths  of  the  other  sex  put 
him  down  among  the  "  old  fogies,"  and  wondered  what  he 
did  with  his  money.  "  Could  it  be  possible  that  he  saved 
it !"  He  was  intimate  nowhere  except  in  the  household  of 
his  whilom  employer  and  present  partner,  whose  daughters 
were  all  married  and  settled  i^i  houses  of  their  own.  If  he 
had  ever  cared  to  look  twice  at  the  same  lady,  the  watchful 
world  had  not  yet  laid  hold  of  this  marvellous  departure 
from  his  fixed  habits. 

His  intercourse  with  Mr.  Hunt's  family  was,  as  we  knowy 
purely  accidental  in  its  commencement,  and  in  its  earlier 
stages  might  have  been  induced  by  humanity  or  friendship 
for  the  sick  father.  In  Sarah's  brain  there  had  never  arisen 
a  suspicion  of  any  ulterior  motive  in  the  pointed  attentions 
directed  of  late  to  herself.  Before  Lucy's  return,  the  care 
of  her  invalid  parent  and  her  day-dreams  had  engrossed 
heart  and  thought  to  an  extent  that  precluded  much  inquiry 
into  other  themes.  Since  that  memorable  night,  inward 
torture  had  abstracted  her  mind  still  more  from  outward 
impressions. 

This  afternoon  she  talked  calmly  and  indifferently  to  Mr. 
Hammond,  without  an  idea  that  he  made  any  greater 
effort  to  please  her.  To  Jeannie  she  was  tender  beyond  her 
usual  showing,  in  remembrance  of  the  wrong  done  the  sen 
sitive  child  in  the  forenoon.  Mr.  Hammond  emulated  her 
in  kindness  to  the  third  member  of  their  party;  and  in  the 
course  of  their  ride,  raised  himself  unwittingly  to  the  rank 
of  rivalship  with  "  Cousin  Philip,"  her  model  gentleman. 

Mr.  Hunt  came  out  to  assist  his  daughter  to  alight,  upon 
their  return.  There  was  a  heartiness  in  his  acknowledg 
ment  of  his  deputy's  politeness,  and  invitation  to  enter  the 
house  and  p.^ss  the  evening  with  them,  which  Sarah  had 
seldom  heard  him  employ  towards  any  visitor.  Mr.  Ham 
mond  may  have  remarked  it  likewise,  for  his  declinature 


HUSKS.  119 

was  evidently  against  his  inclination,  and  coupled  with  a 
promise  to  call  at  an  early  day.  His  visits  were  not  alto 
gether  so  agreeable  as  formerly,  for  he  was  received  in  the 
spacious  parlors  on  a  footing  with  other  callers,  and  in  the 
presence  of  several  members  of  the  family ;  still  he  came 
repeatedly,  with  pretext  and  without,  until  his  sentiments 
and  design  were  a  secret  to  no  one  except  their  object. 

Wrapped  in  the  sad  thoughts  that  isolated  her  from  the 
rest  of  the  world,  even  while  she  made  a  part  of  its  show, 
Sarah  omitted  to  mark  many  things  that  should  have  been 
significant  signs  of  under-currents,  and  tokens  of  important 
issues  to  her  and  those  about  her.  Lucy  had  ceased  to 
harp  perpetually  upon  her  lover's  perfections  and  idolatrous 
flattery  to  herself,  and  while  the  wedding  arrangements 
went  vigorously  forward,  the  disengaged  sister  was  rarely 
annoyed  by  references  to  her  taste  and  demands  for  her 
sympathy.  There  had  never  existed  much  congeniality 
between  the  two,  and  their  common  ground  was  now  ex 
ceedingly  narrow.  Lucy  was  gentle  and  pleasant,  peace 
fully  egotistic  as  ever,  and  Sarah  understood  her  too  well 
to  expect  active  affection  or  disinterestedness.  The  only 
part  of  her  behavior  to  herself  to  which  she  took  mental 
exception  was  a  certain  pitying  forbearance,  a  compassionate 
leniency  with  respect  to  her  faults  and  foibles,  that  had 
grown  upon  her  of  late.  Once  or  twice  the  younger  sister 
had  become  so  restive  under  this  gratuitous  charity  as  to 
reply  sharply  to  the  whey-like  speeches  of  the  mild  elder, 
and,  without  any  appearance  of  wounded  feeling,  yet  with 
not  a  word  of  apology  or  reason  for  so  doing,  Lucy  had 
left  the  apartment,  and  never  hinted  at  the  circumstance 
afterwards. 

Lucy  was  certainly  the  soul,  the  very  cream  of  amiabili 
ty.  It  was  unaccountable  to  her  admirers — and  they  in 
cluded  most  of  her  associates — that  Lewis  Hammond,  with 


120  HUSKS. 

his  peculiar  habits  and  tastes,  should  prefer  that  severe- 
looking,  strong-minded  Sarah.  But  be  it  remembered  that 
he  had  learned  this  love  under  far  different  influences ;  in 
circumstances  wholly  unlike  those  in  which  he  now  beheld 
its  object.  His  respect  for  unobtrusive  intent  and  feeling ; 
his  longing  for  a  home  which  should  be  the  abode  of  sacred 
domestic  virtues ;  and  the  sweet  peace  that  had  fled  from  the 
habitations  frequented  only  by  the  frivolous,  heartless,  and 
vain — these  found  in  the  sick-room  of  the  father,  and  the 
affectionate  fidelity  of  the  daughter,  something  so  like  the 
embodiment  of  his  fancy  of  earthly  happiness,  that  he  ac 
cepted  as  a  benignant  fate  the  accident  which  had  admitted 
him  to  the  arcana  of  their  private  life.  Sarah's  temporary 
illness  had  taught  him  the  meaning  of  his  dreams,  by 
seeming  to  peril  the  chances  of  their  fulfilment ;  and  from 
that  hour  he  strove  patiently  and  sedulously,  as  it  was  his 
habit,  to  seek  all  great  ends  for  the  acquisition  of  the  heart 
whose  depth  he,  perhaps,  of  all  who  knew  her,  best  under 
stood. 

The  most  impatient  person  of  those  directly  or  indirect 
ly  concerned  in  the  progress  of  this  wooing  was  Mrs.  Hunt. 
Her  husband,  with  unwonted  firmness,  had  forbidden  that 
any  one  of  the  household  should  speak  a  word  in  raillery 
or  otherwise  to  Sarah  touching  Mr.  Hammond's  intentions. 
-'  However  earnestly  I  may  desire  his  success,"  he  said  to 
his  wife — "  and  there  is  no  man  living  whom  I  would  rather 
call  '  son' — I  would  not  influence  her  by  the  weight  of  a 
single  syllable.  Hers  is  the  happiness  or  the  misery  of  a  life 
with  her  husband — whomsoever  she  may  choose,  and  hers 
shall  be  the  entire  choice.  If  she  can  love  and  marry  Lewis 
Hammond,  I  shall  be  gratified ;  if  not,  she  shall  never 
guess  at  my  disappointment." 

"  La,  Mr.  H. !  you  are  as  foolish  and  sentimental  as  the 
girl  herself !  For  my  part,  I  ain't  such  a  saint,  and  I  do  say, 


HUSKS.  121 

that  if  Sarah  Hunt  allows   such   a  catch   as   this  to  slip 
through  her  fingers,  she  shall  hear  a  piece  of  my  mind !" 

"I  insist,"  said  Mr.  Hunt,  with  immovable  resolution, 
"  that  Sarah  shall  be  allowed  to  follow  the  guidance  of  her 
own  will  in  this  matter.  It  is  not  often  that  I  interfere 
with  your  plans;  but  in  this  one  instance  I  must  be 
obeyed!" 

With  which  astounding  declaration  of  equal  rights,  if  not 
of  sovereignty,  he  left  his  consort  to  her  reflections. 

Ignorant  of  the  delicate  watchfulness  maintained  over  her 
by  this  best  of  friends,  Sarah  walked  on  her  beclouded  way 
— without  hope,  without  one  anticipation  of  any  future  dis 
similar  to  her  present,  until  awakened  with  a  shock  by  a 
formal  declaration  of  love  from  Lewis  Hammond. 
6 


122  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

IT  was  at  the  close  of  an  evening  party  which  both  the 
Hunts  attended,  and  where  Mr.  Hammond's  devotion  was 
as  marked  as  any  thing  so  modest  could  be,  that  Sarah  felt 
him  slip  an  envelope  into  her  hand,  as  he  put  her  into  the 
carriage.  Surprised  as  she  was  at  the  singularity  of  the 
occurrence,  and  disposed  to  take  offence  at  the  familiarity 
it  implied,  she  had  yet  the  presence  of  mind  to  conceal 
the  missive  from  Lucy,  and  talk  about  other  things,  until 
they  were  set  down  at  home.  In  the  privacy  of  her 
chamber,  she  broke  the  seal  and  read  her  first  love-letter. 

It  was  a  characteristic  composition.  If  the  strong  hand 
had  trembled  above  the  lines,  the  clear,  clerkly  penman 
ship  did  not  witness  to  the  weakness.  Nor  was  there  any 
thing  in  the  subject-matter  that  did  not  appear  to  Sarah  as 
business-like  and  unimpassioned.  It  was  a  frank  and  manly 
avowal  of  attachment -for  her ;  a  compliment  implied,  rather 
than  broadly  stated,  to  her  virtues;  the  traits  that  had 
gained  his  esteem,  then  his  love — a  deprecatory  sentence  as 
to  his  ability  to  deserve  the  treasure  he  dared  to  ask — and 
then  the  question  I  in  plain  black  and  white,  unequivocal  to 
bluntness,  simple  and  direct  to  curtness. 

"  As  he  would  ask  the  price  of  a  bale  of  goods  !"  burst 
forth  Sarah,  indignant,  as  she  threw  the  paper  on  the  floor, 
and  buried  her  burning  face  in  her  hands. 

"That  there  comes  sometimes  a  glory  to  the  Present, 
beside  which  the  hues  of  Past  and  Future  fade  and  are 


HUSKS.  123 

forgotten,  I  must  and  will  believe.  Such,  it  seems  to  me, 
must  be  the  rapture  of  acknowledged  and  reciprocal  affec 
tion  !"  This  was  the  echo  memory  repeated  to  her  soul. 
She  saw  again  the  gently  gliding  river,  with  its  waves  of 
crimson  and  gold ;  breathed  the  pure  fragrance  of  the  sum 
mer  evening ;  floated  on,  towards  the  sunset,  with  the  loved 
voice  in  her  ear ;  the  dawn  of  a  strange  and  beautiful  life, 
shedding  blissful  calm  throughout  her  being. 

And  from  this  review,  dangerous  as  it  was,  for  one  fleet- 
big  instant,  sweet,  she  returned  to  the  proposal  that  had 
amazed  and  angered  her.  Lewis's  undemonstrative  exterior 
had  misled  her,  as  it  did  most  persons,  in  the  estimate  of 
his  inner  nature.  Kind,  she  was  compelled  to  confess  that 
he  was,  in  the  remembrance  of  his  goodness  to  her  father ; 
his  demeanor  was  always  gentlemanly,  and  she  had  caught 
here  and  there  rumors  of  his  generosity  to  the  needy  that 
prevented  a  suspicion  of  sordidness.  No  doubt  he  was  very 
well  in  his  way ;  but  he  wanted  to  marry  her  !  With  the 
intensity  of  her  fiery  spirit,  her  will  arose  against  the  pre 
sumptuous  request.  It  was  the  natural  recoil  of  the  woman 
who  already  loves,  at  the  suggestion  of  a  union  with  anoth 
er  than  the  man  of  her  choice ;  the  spontaneous  outspeaking 
of  a  heart  whose  allegiance  vows  have  been  pledged  and 
cannot  be  nullified.  But  she  would  not  see  this.  Upon 
the  unfortunate  letter  and  its  writer  descended  the  storm 
of  passionate  repugnance  aroused  by  its  contents.  With 
the  reaction  of  excited  feeling  came  tears — a  plentiful  show 
er  that  relaxed  the  overwrought  nerves,  until  they  were 
ready  to  receive  the  benediction  of  sleep. 

Lewis  had  not  asked  a  written  or  verbal  reply. 

"  I  will  call  to  take  you  to  drive  to-morrow  afternoon," 
he  wrote.  "  Should  your  decision  upon  the  question  I  have 
proposed  be  favorable,  your  consent  to  accompany  me  in 


124:  HUSKS. 

my  ride  will  be  understood  as  a  signal  that  you  have 
accepted  my  graver  suit.  If  your  conclusion  is  adverse  to 
my  hopes,  you  can  signify  the  same  to  me  in  a  letter,  to  be 
handed  me  when  I  ask  for  you.  This  course  will  spare  us 
both  embarrassment — perhaps  pain.  In  any  event,  be  as 
sured  that  you  will  ever  have  a  firm  friend  in 
"  Yours  truly, 

"LEWIS  HAMMOND." 

Sarah's  lip  curled  as  she  reperused  this  clause  of  the  letter 
on  the  following  morning. 

"  It  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  I  have  not  to  answer  for 
the  sin  of  breaking  my  ardent  suitor's  heart!"  she  said,  as 
she  drew  towards  her  the  sheet  upon  which  she  was  to 
indite  her  refusal.  It  was  brief  and  courteous — freezing  in 
its  punctilious  civility,  and  prepared  without  a  pang,  or  a 
solitary  misgiving  that  its  reception  would  not  be  philosoph 
ically  calm.  Her  design  was  to  intrust  it  to  the  footman, 
to  be  delivered  when  Mr.  Hammond  called ;  and  as  the 
hour  approached  at  which  the  expectant  was  to  present 
himself,  she  took  the  note  from  the  desk,  and  started  down 
stairs  with  it. 

The  sitting-room  door  was  open,  and,  aware  that  Victoria 
West  was  in  there  with  Lucy,  Sarah  trod  very  softly  as  she 
neared  it.  Her  own  name  arrested  her  as  she  was  going 
by.,  She  stopped  involuntarily. 

"  I  thought  Sarah  a  girl  of  better  regulated  mind,"  said 
Victoria,  in  a  tone  of  censorious  pity.  "  Of  course  she 
suffers !  It  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  an  unrequited 
attachment.  Such  miserable  folly,  such  unpardonable  weak 
ness  brings  its  punishment  with  it.  But  my  sympathies 
are  all  yours,  my  dearest.  I  only  wish  you  were  not  so 
sensitive.  You  are  not  to  blame  for  her  blind  mistake.'* 

"  I  cannot  help  it !"  said  Lucy,  plaintively.     "  It  seems  so 


HUSKS.  125 

sad  that  I  should  be  made  the  means  of  depriving  her  of 
happiness.  I  wish  I  had  never  known  that  she  was  attached 
to  poor  Philip.  I  can't  tell  you  how  awkward  I  feel  'when 
any  allusion  is  made  in  her  hearing  to  the  dear  fellow,  or  to 
our  marriage." 

"  I  meant  it  for  the  best,  dear,  in  telling  you  of  my  dis 
covery,"  replied  Victoria,  slightly  hurt. 

"  I  know  that,  my  dear  creature  !  And  it  is  well  that  I 
should  not  be  kept  in  the  dark  as  to  the  state  of  her  affec 
tions.  I  only  hope  that  Philip  never  penetrated  her  secret. 
I  should  die  of  mortification  for  her,  if  he  were  to  find  it  out. 
It.  is  a  lamentable  affair — and  I  am  sure  that  he  is  not  in 
fault.  What  did  you  say  that  you  gave  for  that  set  of 
handkerchiefs  you  showed  me  yesterday  ?" 

"  The  cheapest  things  you  ever  saw !  I  got  them  at 
Stewart's,  and  they  averaged  six  dollars  apiece !  As  to  Mr. 
Benson,  I  trust,  with  you,  that  he  is  as  unsuspecting  as  he 
seems ;  but  he  has  remarkable  discernment,  you  know. 
What  I  could  not  help  seeing,  before  I  had  any  other  proof 
than  her  behavior,  is  not  likely  to  have  escaped  him." 

Half  an  hour  later  the  twain  were  disturbed  in  th,eir  con 
fidences  by  the  sound  of  wheels  stopping  before  the  house, 
followed  by  a  ring  at  the  door.  Victoria,  ever  on  the  alert, 
peeped,  with  feline  caution  and  curiosity,  around  the  edge 
of  the  curtain. 

"  What  is  going  to  happen  ?  Look,  Lucy !  Mr.  Ham 
mond  in  a  handsome  light  carriage,  and  driving  a  lovely 
pair  of  horses!  I  never  thought  to  see  him  go  in  such 
style.  How  well  he  looks !  Take  care  !  he  will  see  you !" 

Both  dodged  as  he  glanced  at  the  upper  windows ;  but 
resumed  their  look-out  in  time  to  see  the  light  that  was 
kindled  in  his  face  when  Sarah  emerged  from  the  front  door. 
He  was  at  her  side  in  a  second,  to  lead  her  down  the  steps, 
and  his  manner  in  this  movement,  and  in  assisting  her  into 


126  HUSKS. 

the  carriage,  the  more  striking  in  one  generally  so  self-con 
tained  and  deliberate,  inspired  the  pair  of  initiated  observers 
with  the  same  conviction.  As  the  spirited  horses  disap 
peared  into  the-  Avenue,  the  friends  drew  back  from  their 
loop-hole,  and  stared  each  other  in  the  eyes,  with  the  simul 
taneous  exclamation — "  They  are  engaged  !" 

They  were  engage  d !  Lewis  felt  it  with  a  glad  bound  of 
the  heart — but  a  minute  before  sickening  in  deadly  suspense  : 
fel£,  as  he  seated  himself  by  her  side,  that  the  sorrows  of  a 
lonely  and  struggling  youth,  the  years  of  manhood's  isola 
tion  and  unsatisfied  longings,  were  swept  from  memory  by 
this  hour  of  abundant,  unalloyed  happiness. 

And  Sarah  felt  it !  As  her  hand  touched  his,  at  their 
meeting  upon  the  steps,  a  chill  ran  through  her  frame  that 
told  the  consummation  of  the  sacrifice  which  was  to  atone 
for  past  folly ;  to  silence,  and  brand  as  a  lying  rumor,  the 
fearful  tale  that  bruited  abroad  the  revelation  of  that  weak 
ness.  In  her  mad  horror  at  the  knowledge  of  its  discovery, 
she  had  rushed  upon  this  alternative.  Better  an  estate  of 
honorable  misery,  than  to  live  on,  solitary,  disgraced,  con 
demned  and  pitied  by  her  meanest  foe !  Now  that  the  irre 
versible  step  was  taken,  she  experienced  no  sharp  regret, 
no  wild  impulse  of  retreat,  but  a  gradual  sinking  of  spirit 
into  hopeless  apathy. 

Her  veil  concealed  her  dull  eyes  and  stolid  features,  and 
to  Lewis's  happy  mood  there  was  nothing  surprising  or  dis 
couraging  in  her  disposition  to  silence.  With  a  tact  for 
whicli  she  had  not  given  him  credit,  and  did  not  now  value 
aright,  he  refrained  from  any  direct  reference  to  their  altered 
relation  until  they  were  returning  homeward.  Then  chang 
ing  his  tone  of  pleasant  chat  for  one  of  deeper  meaning,  he 
said : — 

"  I  have  dared  to  hope  much — every  thing— rfrom  your 
consent  to  become  my  companion  for  this  afternoon.  Be- 


HUSKS.  127 

fore  I  ventured  to  address  you  directly,  I  had  a  long  and 
frank  conversation  with  your  father." 

"  What  did  he  say  ?"  asked  Sarah,  turning  towards  him 
for  the  first  time. 

"  He  referred  me  to  you  for  my  answer,  which,  he  said, 
must  be  final  and  positive,  since  he  would  never  attempt  to 
influence  your  choice.  In  the  event  of  an  affirmative  reply 
from  you,  he  promised  that  his  sanction  should  not  be  with 
held." 

Sarah  was  silent.  She  comprehended  fully  her  father's 
warm  interest  in  his  friend's  suit,  which  the  speaker  was  too 
diffident  to  imply,  and  how  this  expression  of  his  wishes  set 
the  seal  upon  her  fate. 

"  We  are  poor  and  proud !  Mr.  Hammond  is  rich  and 
seeks  to  marry  me !"  was  her  bitter  thought.  "  It  is  a  fine 
bargain  in  the  eyes  of  both  my  parents.  It  would  be  high 
treason  in  me  to  dispute  their  will.  Mr.  Hammond  has 
conceived  the  notion  that  I  am  a  useful  domestic  character, 
a  good  housekeeper  and  nurse,  and  he  is  willing  to  bid  lib 
erally  for  my  services.  It  is  all  arranged  between  them ! 
Mine  is  a  passive  part,  to  copy  Lucy's  sweet,  submissive 
ways  for  a  season,  for  fear  of  frightening  away  the  game, 
afterwards  to  attend  to  my  business,  while  he  looks  after 
his.  I  have  chosen  my  lot,  and  I  wih1  abide  by  it !" 

"  Have  I  your  permission  to  call  this  evening  and  inform 
your  father  of  my  success — may  I  say  of  our  engagement  ?" 
asked  Lewis. 

"  It  is  best,  I  suppose,  to  call  things  by  their  right  names," 
replied  Sarah,  in  a  cold  voice,  that  was  to  him  only  coy.  He 
smiled,  and  was  about  to  speak,  when  she  resumed :  "  Since 
we  are  virtually  engaged" — she  caught  her  breath  as  she 
brought  out  the  word — "  I  see  no  reason  why  we  should 
hesitate  to  announce  it  to  those  whose  right  it  is  to  know 
it." 


128  HUSKS. 

"  Thank  you !  That  was  spoken  like  the  noble,  unaffected 
woman  you  are  !  Will  you  always  be  equally  sincere  with 
me — Sarah  ?"  His  accent  trembled  with  excess  of  emotion 
in  calling  the  name. 

Is  it,  then,  an  easy  lot  that  you  have  chosen,  Sarah  Hunt  ? 
You,  whose  pride  and  glory  it  was  to  be  truthful,  who 
spurned  whatever  assimilated  in  the  least  degree  to  decep 
tion,  what  think  you  of  a  life  where  a  lie  meets  you  on  the 
threshold,  and  must  be  accepted  and  perpetuated,  if  you 
would  preserve  your  name  and  position  in  his  eyes  and  those 
of  the  world.  "  It  is  the  way  two-thirds  of  the  married 
people  live !"  you  were  saying  to  yourself,  just  now.  It 
may  be  so ;  but  it  is  none  the  less  a  career  of  duplicity,  per 
jury — crime! 

"  I  will  endeavor  to  please  you !"  she  faltered,  her  face 
in  a  flame  of  shame  and  confusion. 

And  this  was  the  hue  that  met  Lewis's  eye,  as  her  veil 
was  blown  aside,  in  her  descent  to  the  pavement,  a  blush  he 
interpreted  to  suit  his  own  wishes.  Mr.  Hunt  appeared  in 
the  door-way  as  she  alighted,  and  read  in  Hammond's 
smile  and  joyous  salutation  all  that  he  most  desired  to  learn. 
"When  the  door  was  closed  upon  the  departing  suitor,  the 
father  drew  his  best-beloved  child  to  him,  and  kissed  her, 
without  a  word  of  uttered  blessing. 

"It  would  break  his  heart  were  I  to  recede  now!" 
thought  Sarah,  as  she  bore  hers — heavy,  hard — up  to  her 
room. 

That  evening  was  the  proudest  era  of  Mrs.  Hunt's  exist 
ence.  Two  daughters  well  engaged  —  unexceptionably 
paired  off!  What  mother  more  blest  than  she?  Where 
could  be  found  other  children  so  dutiful  ?  other  sons-in-law 
so  acceptable?  By  breakfast  time,  next  day,  she  had 
arranged  every  thing — Sarah's  trousseau,  her  house,  and  the 
double  wedding.  * 


HUSKS. 


129 


Lucy  expostulated  here.  "  But,  mother,  this  is  the  first 
of  November." 

"  I  know  that,  my  dear  ;  but  the  ceremony  will  not  come 
off  until  Christmas,  and  much  can  be  done  in  six  weeks  for 
your  sister — your  work  is  so  forward.  Then,  again,  'tisn't 
as  if  Sarah  couldn't  get  every  thing  she  needs  right  here,  if 
she  shouldn't  have  enough.  It  will  be  tremendously  expen 
sive — awful,  in  fact ;  but  we  must  make  sacrifices.  We 
can  live  economical  after  you're  married  and  gone,  and 
save  enough  to  meet  the  bills." 

"  If  you  please,  madam,  I  prefer  a  plain  outfit,  and  no 
debts,"  said  Sarah's  most  abrupt  tones. 

"  If  you  please,  my  dear,  I  understand  my  affairs,  and 
mean  to  do  as  I  think  proper,"  retorted  the  no  less  strong- 
willed  mother. 

Sarah  was  not  cowed.  "  And  as  to  the  time  you  set,  I 
cannot  agree  to  it.  I  presume  that  in  this  matter  I  have 
some  voice.  I  say  six  months  instead  of  six  weeks  !" 

"  Very  well,  my  love."  Mrs.  Hunt  went  on  polishing  a 
tumbler  with  her  napkin.  She  always  washed  her  silver 
and  glass  herself.  "  You  must  settle  that  with  your  father 
and  Mr.  Hammond.  They  are  crazy  for  this  plan.  They 
were  talking  to  me  about  it  last  night,  and  I  told  them  that 
I  would  engage  to  have  every  thing  ready  in  time  ;  but  you 
must  be  consulted.  I  never  saw  your  father  more  set  Upon 
any  thing.  He  said  to  me,  private,  that  he  did  hope  that 
you  wouldn't  raise  any  squeamish  objections,  and  upset  their 
arrangements." 

Mrs.  Hunt  took  up  a  handful  of  spoons  as  composedly  as 
if  she  had  never  stretched  her  conscience  in  her  life. 

Sarah's  head  drooped  upon  the  table.  She  was  very,  very 
miserable.  In  her  morbid  state  of  mind  she  did  not  dream 
of  questioning  the  accuracy  of  her  mother's  assertion.  That 
a  marriageable  single  daughter  was  a  burden  to  one  parent, 


130  HUSKS. 

she  knew  but  too  well ;  that  to  this  able  financier  the  pros 
pect  of  getting  two  out  of  the  way,  with  the  eclat  of  a 
double  ceremony  that  should  cost  no  more  than  Lucy's 
nuptials  would  have  done,  was  a  stupendous  temptation,  she 
also  perceived.  But  that  the  father  whom  she  so  loved ; 
whose  sick-bed  she  had  tended  so  faithfully ;  whose  lonely 
hours  it  was  her  province  and  delight  to  solace — that  he 
should  acquiesce — nay,  more,  rejoice  in  this  indelicate  haste 
to  get  rid  of  her,  was  a  cruel  stab. 

"  Very  well,"  she  said,  raising  an  ashy  face.  "  Let  it  be 
as  you  say.  The  sooner  it  is  over,  the  better." 

This  clause  was  unheeded  by  her  mother  and  sister.  Had 
they  heard  it,  they  might  have  understood  it  as  little  as  they 
did  the  composure  with  which  she  joined  in  the  work  which 
was  begun,  without  an  hour's  delay.  In  this  trying  junc 
ture,  Mrs.  Hunt  came  out  in  all  her  strength.  Her  sewing- 
machine  (she  was  one  of  the  earliest  purchasers  of  these  in 
estimable  time,  labor,  and  money  savers)  went  night  and 
day ;  she  shopped  largely  and  judiciously,  giving  orders  to 
tradespeople  with  the  air  of  a  princess;  "Jewed"  her 
butcher  ;  watched  her  pantry,  and  served  up  poorer  dinners 
than  ever.  Jeannie's  winter  outfit  was  ingeniously  contrived 
from  her  sisters'  cast-off  wardrobe;  Mr.  Hunt's  and  the 
boys'  shirts  and  socks  were  patched  and  darned  until  but  a 
trifling  quantity  of  the  original  material  remained ;  and  this 
pearl  of  mothers  had  her  two-year-old  cloak  and  last 
season's  hat  "  done  over"  for  this  year's  wear. 

Foremost  among  the  visitors  to  the  Hunts,  after  this 
latest  engagement  was  made  public,  was  Mrs.  Marlow,  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Hammond's  benefactor  and  partner.  Sarah  was 
out  when  she  called ;  so  Mrs.  Hunt  received  her,  and  dis 
covering  very  soon  that,  in  spite  of  her  husband's  wealth 
and  her  splendid  establishment,  she  was  not,  as  Mrs.  Hunt 
phrased  it  to  her  daughters,  "  one  mite  proud,  and  thought 


HUSKS.  131 

the  world  and  all  of  Lewis" — the  mother  opened  her  heart 
to  her  so  freely,  with  regard  to  the  prospective  weddings 
and  her  maternal  anxieties,  that  Mrs.  Maiiow  was  em 
boldened  to  introduce  a  subject  which  had  taken  hold  of 
her  thoughts  so  soon  as  she  heard  from  Mr.  Hammond  of 
his  expected  marriage. 

She  had  a  daughter,  resident  for  the  winter  in  Paris, 
whose  taste  in  female  attire  was  unquestionable,  and  her 
good-nature  as  praiseworthy.  If  Miss  Sarah  Hunt  would 
prepare  a  memorandum  of  such  articles  as  she  would  like 
to  have  selected  in  that  emporium  of  fashion,  she  would 
promise,  for  her  daughter,  that  they  should  be  forwarded 
in  time  for  "the  occasion." 

"  Some  friends  of  mine,  now  abroad,  have  kindly  offered 
to  bring  me  over  any  quantity  of  fine  dresses  with  their 
baggage,"  said  the  complaisant  old  lady ;  "  and,  as  I  do  not 
need  their  services  for  myself,  I  can  smuggle  in  whatever 
your  daughter  may  order.  You  would  be  surprised  at  the 
difference  in  prices  here  and  there — to  say  nothing  of  the 
superior  excellence  and  variety  of  the  assortment  from 
which  one  can  choose.  My  friends  will  return  early  in 
December.  Therefore,  should  you  like  this  arrange 
ment,  I  ought  to  have  the  list  and  write  my  letters  to 
morrow." 

Energetic,  fussy,  snobbish  Mrs.  Hunt !  She  stood  an  inch 
taller  in  her  shoes  at  the  imagination  of  this  climax  to  the 
glory  of  the  dual  ceremony.  "  Trousseau  ordered  directly 
from  Paris  !"  She  seemed  already  to  hear  the  envious  and 
admiring  buzz  of  her  set ;  saw  herself  the  most  blessed  of 
women — her  daughters  the  brides  of  the  season.  She  would 
order  for  Lucy,  also  ;  for  the  longer  the  list  the  more  im 
portance  would  the  future  Mrs.  Hammond  acquire  in  the 
sight  of  her  husband's  friends.  They  could  not  know  that 
it  was  not  for  her  alone.  Then,  as  Mrs.  Marlow  intimated, 


132  HUSKS. 

it  would  be  a  saving.  Here,  like  a  cold  shower-bath,  came 
the  agonizing  query — "  Where  was  the  money  to  come 
from  ?"  It  would  never  do  to  run  in  debt  to  such  people  as 
the  Marlows.  If  they  were  hard-pressed  shopkeepers,  who 
needed  the  money,  it  would  be  another  thing.  No!  the 
cash  in  hand,  or  its  representative,  must  accompany  the 
memorandum. 

Sarah  was  secretly  pleased  at  this  obstacle,  for  she 
despised  the  ostentation  and  extravagance  going  on  in  their 
hungry  household.  Strive  as  she  did,  with  wicked  perti 
nacity,  to  conform  herself  to  the  world's  code,  there  was  as 
yet  too  much  of  the  ancient  and  better  leaven  left  to  permit 
more  than  an  outward  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  customs 
so  irrational  and  tyrannical. 

That  very  evening  there  arrived  a  letter  that  settled  the 
question,  and  inflated  Mrs.  Hunt's  collapsed  spirits  to  an 
expansion  hitherto  unequalled.  It  was  from  Aunt  Sarah  to 
her  namesake  niece ;  a  guileless,  fervent  expression  of  good 
wishes  and  unabated  affection,  and  a  request  from  "  hus 
band"  and  herself  that  she  would  accept  the  enclosure  as  a 
mark  of  that  hopeful  regard. 

"  Since  our  daughters  died" — wrote  this  true  and  gentle 
mother — "  we  have  always  intended  to  give  you  just  exactly 
what  we  would  have  done  one  of  them,  as  a  wedding- 
present — as  you  were  named  for  me,  and  I  had  nursed  you 
before  your  mother  ever  did,  and  you  seemed  in  some  way 
to  belong  to  us.  But  since  you  paid  us  a  visit  we  have  felt 
nearer  to  you  than  ever,  and  seeing  that  the  Lord  has  pros 
pered  us  in  this  world's  goods,  we  have  made  up  our  minds 
to  give  you  a  double  portion,  dear,  what  both  of  our  girls 
would  have  had,  if  it  had  pleased  our  Father  to  spare  them 
to  have  homes  of  their  own  upon  earth.  Living  is  high  in 
New  York,  but  we  have  calculated  that  what  we  send  will 
buy  your  wedding-clothes  and  furnish  your  house." 


HUSKS.  133 

The  enclosed  gift,  to  Sarah's  astonishment,  was  a  check 
upon  a  city  bank  for  a  thousand  dollars ! 

"  Was  there  ever  such  a  child  for  luck?"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Hunt,  clapping  her  hands.  "  What  a  fortunate  thing  we 
sent  you  down  there  when  we  did  !  That  was  one  of  my 
plans,  you  remember,  Mr.  H.  Really,  Lucy,  our  little  Sarah 
understands  how  to  play  her  cards,  after  all !  I  never  did 
you  justice,  my  dear  daughter.  I  ain't  ashamed  to  confess 
it.  This  puts  all  straight,  and  is  real  handsome  in  sister 
Benson — more  than  I  expected.  Go  to  work  right  away 
upon  your  list,  girls  !  We'll  have  to  set  up  the  best  part  of 
the  night  to  get  it  ready.  Ah,  well !  this  comes  of  putting 
one's  trust  in  Providence  and  going  ahead !" 

Sarah  thought,  with  aching  heart  and  moistened  eyes,  of 
Aunt  Sarah's  mind-pictures  of  the  neat  apparel  and  snug 
dwelling  she  deemed  proper  for  a  young  couple  just  be 
ginning  house-keeping,  and  rebelled  at  this  waste,  this  frivo 
lous  expenditure  of  her  love-portion.  Mr.  Hunt  sided  with 
her,  so  far  as  to  urge  the  propriety  of  her  doing  as  she 
pleased  with  what  was  her  exclusive  property  ;  but,  as  in  a 
majority  of  former  altercations,  their  arguments  and  powers 
of  endurance  were  no  match  for  the  determination  and  mind 
of  the  real  head  of  the  family.  With  a  sigh  of  pain,  dis 
gust,  and  despair,  Mr.  Hunt  succumbed,  and,  deserted  by 
her  ally,  Sarah  contended  but  a  short  time  longer  ere  she 
yielded  up  the  cause  of  the  combat  to  the  indomitable 
victress. 


134  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  bridal  day  came ;  frosty  and  clear,  dazzlingly  bright, 
by  reason  of  the  reflection  from  the  snow,  which  lay  deep 
and  firm  upon  the  ground. 

"  What  a  delightful  novelty  this  is,  coming  to  a  wedding 
in  a  sleigh !"  lisped  one  of  the  triad  of  bridesmaids,  who 
were  to  do  double  duty  for  the  sisters.  "How  very 
gay  it  makes  one  to  hear  the  bells  outside!  Have  they 
come,  Yic.  ?" 

Victoria,  whose  marriage  was  but  one  week  off,  was,  true  to 
instinct  and  habit,  on  the  lookout  behind  the  friendly  curtain. 

She  nodded.  "  Yes — both  of  them,  but  not  together. 
What  a  magnificent  sleigh  that  is  of  the  Marlows !  They 
brought  Mr.  Hammond.  See  the  bridegrooms  shake  hands 
on  the  sidewalk !  That  looks  so  sweet  and  brotherly !  They 
'will  be  up  here  almost  directly,  I  suppose." 

The  attendants  immediately  began  to  shake  out  their 
robes  and  stroke  their  white  gloves.  They  were  collected 
in  the  sitting-room  so  often  mentioned,  and  the  sisters  were 
also  present.  In  accordance  with  the  ridiculous  custom  of 
very  parvenu  modern  marriages,  although  the  ceremony  was 
to  take  place  precisely  at  twelve  o'clock,  daylight  was  care 
fully  excluded  from  the  parlors  below,  gas  made  its  sickly 
substitute,  and  the  whole  company  was  in  full  evening 
costume. 

"  Am  I  all  right  ?"  inquired  Lucy,  with  a  cautious  wave 
of  her  flowing  veil.  "  Look  at  me,  Vic. !" 

"  You  are  perfect,  my  dearest!"  replied  the  devoted  para- 


HUSKS.  135 

site.  "  How  I  admire  your  beautiful  self-possession !  And 
as  for  you,  Sarah,  your  calmness  is  wonderful !  I  fear  that 
I  should  be  terribly  agitated" — blushing,  and  casting  a 
meaning  smile  at  Lucy. 

Sarah's  statuesque  repose  was  broken  by  a  ray  of  scorn 
from  the  eye,  and  a  slight  disdainful  smile.  Whatever  were 
the  feelings  working  beneath  her  marble  mask,  she  was  not 
yet  reduced  to  the  depth  of  wretchedness  that  would 
humble  her  to  accept  the  insolent  pity  couched  under  the 
pretended  praise.  She  vouchsafed  no  other  reply  ;  but  re 
mained  standing  a  little  apart  from  the  rest ;  her  gloved 
hands  crossed  carelessly  before  her ;  her  gaze  bent  down 
wards  ;  her  .whole  posture  that  of  one  who  neither  waited, 
nor  hoped,  nor  feared. 

"  Who  would  have  thought  that  she  could  be  made  such 
an  elegant-looking  woman  ?"  whispered  one  of  the  bride- 
maids  aside  to  another. 

"  She  has  actually  a  high-bred  air !  I  never  imagined  it 
was  in  her.  So  much  for  a  Parisian  toilette  !" 

"  I  am  so  much  afraid  that  I  shall  lose  my  color  when  we 
enter  the  room,"  said  Lucy,  surveying  her  pink  cheeks  in 
the  mirror.  "  They  say  it  is  so  trying  to  the  nerves,  and  I 
am  odious  when  I  am  pale." 

"  Never  fear,  my  sweetest.  It  is  more  likely  that  the  un 
avoidable  excitement  will  improve  your  complexion.  There 
they  are  !"  returned  Victoria,  hurriedly,  and — unconsciously, 
no  doubt — the  three  attendants  and  one  of  the  principals  in 
the  forthcoming  transaction,  "  struck  an  attitude,"  as  the 
sound  of  footsteps  approached  the  door. 

Lucy  had  only  time  for  a  whisper — a  last  injunction — to 
her  faithful  crony.  "  Remember  to  see  that  my  veil  and 
dress  hang  right  when  we  get  down-stairs."  And  the  mas 
culine  portion  of  the  procession  marched  in  in  order. 

Sarah  did  not  look  up.     She  bent  her  head  as  the  formal 


136  HUSKS. 

exchange  of  salutations  was  executed,  and  yielded  her  hand 
to  the  person  who  took  it  in  his  warm  pressure,  and  then 
transferred  it  to  his  arm.  It  was  one  of  the  freaks,  thus  de 
nominated  by  her  acquaintances,  in  which  she  had  been  in 
dulged,  that  she  desired  to  have  her  marriage  ceremony  pre 
cede  her  sister's.  She  assigned  what  Lucy  at  least  consid 
ered  a  sufficient  reason  for  this  caprice. 

"  Nobody  will  care  to  look  at  me  after  you  stand  aside, 
Lucy.  KeepJ^he  best  wine  until  the  last.  My  only  chance 
of  getting  an  approving  glance  lies  in  going  in  before  you 
attract  and  fix  the  public  gaze." 

She  had  her  way.  A  limited  number  of  select  friends 
were  admitted  to  behold  "  the  ceremony ;"  yet  the  parlors 
were  comfortably  filled,  excepting  in  the  magical  semicircle 
described  by  an  invisible  line,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood 
the  clergyman  in  his  robes. 

Still  dull  and  calm,  Sarah  went  through  the  brief  role  that 
fell  to  her  share.  "  Behaved  charmingly,"  was  the  unani 
mous  verdict  of  the  beholders,  and  surprised  other  people,  as 
well  as  the  complimentary  bridemaid,  by  her  thorough-bred 
air  and  Parisian  toilet.  "Without  the  pause  of  a  second,  so 
perfect  was  the  drill  of  the  performers,  the  wedded  pair 
stepped  aside,  and  made  way  for  the  second  happy  couple. 
Lucy's  solicitude  on  the  score  of  her  complexion  was  needless. 
As  the  solemn  words  were  commenced,  a  rosy  blush  flickered 
up  to  its  appointed  resting-place — another  and  another — until, 
when  Philip  released  her  to  the  congratulatory  throng,  she 
was  the  most  enchanting  type  of  a  radiant  Hebe  that  poet 
ever  sang,  or  painter  burned  to  immortalize  on  canvas. 

Philip  stood  beside  her  and  sustained  his  portion  of  the 
hand-shaking  and  felicitations  until  the  press  diminished, 
then  stepped  hastily  over  to  where  Hammond  and  his  bride 
were  undergoing  a  similar  martyrdom.  Until  this  moment 
Sarah  had  not  looked  at,  or  spoken  to  him — had  never  met 


HUSKS. 


137 


him  face  to  face  since  their  parting  in  the  summer  at  Aunt 
Sarah's.  Now,  not  aware  who  it  was  that  approached  her, 
she  raised  her  eyes  with  the  serious  dignity  with  which  she 
had  received  all  other  salutations,  and  met  his  downward 
gaze — full  of  warm  and  honest  feeling. 

"  Sister !"  he  said,  and  in  brotherly  fondness  he  bent  to 
wards  her,  and  left  a  kiss  upon  her  mouth. 

A  hot  glow,  the  lurid  red  of  offended  modesty  or  self-con 
victed  guilt,  overspread  her  face ;  the  lips  parted,  quivered, 
and  closed  tightly,  after  an  ineffectual  effort  to  articulate  ;  the 
room  swam  around  her,  and  Mr.  Hammond  caught  her  just 
in  time  to  save  her  from  falling.  It  was  Nature's  vengeful 
reaction  for  the  long  and  unnatural  strain  upon  her  energies. 
She  did  not  faint  entirely  away,  although  several  moments 
elapsed  before  she  regained  perfect  consciousness  of  her  sit 
uation  and  surrounding  objects.  She  had  been  placed  in  an 
easy-chair;  her  head  rested  against  her  father's  shoulder, 
and  on  the  other  side  stood  Lewis,  almost  as  pale  as  herself, 
holding  a  glass  of  wine  to  her  lips.  -  Around  her  were 
grouped  her  mother,  Lucy,  and  Philip.  The  guests  had 
withdrawn  politely  to  the  background,  and  maintained  a  re 
spectful  silence. 

"What  have  I  betrayed?"  was  her  first  coherent  reflec 
tion  ;  and,  with  an  instinctive  perception  of  the  quarter 
where  such  disclosures  would  do  most  harm,  her  eye  turned 
with  a  sort  of  appealing  terror  to  Lewis.  His  heart  leaped 
at  the  movement,  revealing,  as  he  fancied  it  did,  dependence 
upon  his  strength,  recognition  of  his  right  to  be  with  and 
nearest  to  her. 

"  You  are  better,"  he  said,  with  a  moved  tenderness  he 
could  not  and  cared  not  to  restrain. 

The  words,  the  manner,  were  an  inexpressible  relief  to  her 
fears,  and  trying  to  return  his  smile,  she  would  have  arisen 
but  for  her  father's  interposition. 


138  HUSKS. 

"  Sit  still,"  he  advised.  "  Mrs.  Hunt,  Lucy,  Mr.  Benson, 
will  you  entertain  our  friends  ?  She  will  be  all  right  in  a 
little  while,  Mr.  Hammond." 

"  Tableaux  vivants  /"  said  Lucy's  soft,  rich  voice,  as  she 
advanced  towards  the  reassured  guests.  "  This  is  a  part  of 
the  performance  not  set  down  in  the  programme.  Quite 
theatrical,  was  it  not  ?" 

It  is  very  possible  that  Philip  Benson  would  not  have  re 
garded  this  as  an  apropos  or  refined  witticism,  had  any  one 
else  been  the  speaker ;  but  as  the  round,  liquid  tones  rolled 
it  forth,  and  her  delicious  laugh4  led  off  the  instant  revival  of 
mirth  and  badinage,  he  marvelled  at  her  consummate  tact,  her 
happy  play  of  fancy  (!),  and  returned  devout  thanks  to  the 
stars  that  had  bestowed  upon  him  this  prodigy  of  grace,  wit, 
and  beauty.  Sarah  rallied  speedily;  and,  contrary  to  the 
advice  of  her  father  and  husband,  maintained  her  post  in 
the  drawing-room  during  all  the  reception,  which  contin 
ued  from  half-past  twelve  to  half-past  two. 

It  was  a  gay  and  shifting  scene — a  sparkling,  murmuring 
tide,  that  ebbed  and  flowed  to  and  from  the  quartette  who 
formed  the  attractive  power.  Silks,  laces,  velvets,  furs,  and 
diamonds;  faces  young,  old,  and  middle-aged;  handsome, 
fair,  and  homely ;  all  decked  in  the  same  conventional  holi 
day  smile  ;  bodies  tall  and  short,  executing  every  variety  of 
bow  and  courtesy  ;  voices  sweet,  sharp,  and  guttural,  utter 
ing  the  senseless  formula  of  congratulation — these  were 
Sarah's  impressions  of  the  tedious  ceremonial.  Restored  to 
her  rigid  composure,  she  too  bowed  and  spoke  the  word  or 
sentence  custom  exacted — an  emotionless  automaton  in 
seeming,  while  Lucy's  matchless  inflections  lent  interest  and 
beauty  to  the  like  nothings,  as  she  rehearsed  them  in  her 
turn ;  and  Philip  Benson,  having  no  solicitude  for  his  bride's 
health  or  ability  to  endure  the  fatigue,  was  collected  enough 
to  compare  the  two,  and,  while  exulting  in  his  selection,  to 


HUSKS.  139 

commiserate  the  proprietor  of  the  colder  and  less  gifted 
sister. 

At  last  the  trial  was  over ;  the  hospitable  mansion  was 
closed  ;  the  parlors  deserted ;  the  preparations  for  travelling 
hurried  through  ;  and  the  daughters  went  forth  from  their 
girlhood's  home.  Philip  had  cordially  invited  Sarah  and 
Lewis,  by  letter,  to  accompany  Lucy  and  himself  to  Georgia ; 
but  Sarah  would  not  hear  of  it,  and  Lewis,  while  he  left  the 
decision  to  her,  was  not  sorry  that  she  preferred  to  jour 
ney  instead  with  him  alone.  It  was  too  cold  to  go  north 
ward,  and  the  Hammonds  now  proposed  to  proceed  with 
the  others  as  far  as  Baltimore,  there  to  diverge  upon  a 
Western  and  Southern  tour,  which  was  to  occupy  three 
weeks,  perhaps  four. 


140 


HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

DURING  the  month  preceding  his  marriage,  Lewis  Ham 
mond  had  spent  much  time  and  many  thoughts  in  providing 
and  furnishing  a  house  for  his  wife.  His  coadjutor  in  this 
labor  of  love  was  not,  as  one  might  have  expected,  Mrs.  Hunt, 
but  his  early  friend,  Mrs.  Marlow.  His  omission  of  his  fu 
ture  mother-in-law,  in  his  committee  of  consultation,  he  ex 
plained  to  her  by  representing  the  number  of  duties  already 
pressing  upon  her,  and  his  unwillingness  to  add  aught  to 
their  weight.  But  when  both  girls  were  married  and  gone, 
and  the  work  of  "  getting  to  rights"  was  all  over,  this  inde 
fatigable  woman  paid  Mrs.  Marlow  a  visit,  and  offered  her 
assistance  in  completing  the  arrangements  for  the  young 
housekeepers. 

"  There  is  nothing  for  us  to  do,"  said  Mrs.  Marlow.' 
"  Lewis  attended  to  the  purchase  of  every  thing  before  leav 
ing  ;  and  the  orders  are  all  in  the  hands  of  a  competent 
upholsterer  whom  he  has  employed,  as  is  also  the  key  of  the 
house.  I  offered  to  have  the  house-cleaning  clone,  but 
Lewis  refused  to  let  me  help  him  even  in  this.  He  is  very 
methodical,  and  rather  strict  in  some  of  his  ideas.  When 
the  premises  are  pronounced  ready  for  the  occupancy  of  the 
future  residents,  you  and  I  will  play  inspectors,  and  find  as 
much  fault  as  we  can." 

Mrs.  Hunt  went  around  by  the  house  on  her  way  home. 
It  was  new  and  handsome,  a  brown  stone  front,  with  stone 
balconies  and  balustrades ;  but  three  stories  higji,  it  was 
true,  yet  of  ample  width  and  pitch  of  ceiling,  and — as  she 


HUSKS.  141 

discovered  by  skirting  the  square — at  least  three  rooms  deep 
all  the  way  up.  The  location  was  unobjectionable ;  not 
more  than  four  blocks  from  the  paternal  residence,  and  in  a 
wider  street.  On  the  whole,  she  had  no  fault  to  find,  pro 
vided  Mr.  Hammond  had  furnished  it  in  such  style  as  she 
would  have  recommended.  She  had  her  fears  lest  his  sober 
taste  in  other  respects  should  extend  to  these  matters,  and 
hinted  something  of  the  kind  to  her  husband. 

"  I  have  confidence  in  Mr.  Hammond  to  believe  that  he 
will  allow  his  wife  every  indulgence  compatible  with  his 
means,"  was  the  reply. 

Mr.  Hunt  did  not  deem  it  obligatory  upon  him  to  state  that 
his*son-in-law  had  conferred  with  him  upon  numerous  ques 
tions  pertaining  to  Sarah's  likes  and  probable  wishes  ;  that  he 
had  examined  and  approved  of  the  entire  collection  of  furni 
ture,  etc.,  selected  for  her  use.  Why  should  he,  how  could 
he,  without  engendering  in  his  wife's  bosom  the  suspicion 
that  had  accounted  to  him  for  Lewis's  choice  of  the  father 
as  an  adviser  ?  namely,  that  the  newly-made  husband  had 
^gained  a  pretty  correct  estimate  of  this  managing  lady's 
character,  her  penny-wise  and  pound-foolish  policy,  and  in 
tended  to  inaugurate  altogether  a  different  one  in  his  house. 

Regardless  of  Mrs.  Marlow's  polite  insinuation  that  their 
room  was  preferable  to  their  company  until  all  things  should 
be  in  readiness  for  inspection,  the  ambitious  mother  made 
sundry  visits  to  the  premises  while  they  were  being  fitted 
up,  and  delivered  herself  of  divers  suggestions  and  recom 
mendations,  which  fell  like  sand  on  a  rock  upon  the  presid 
ing  man  of  business. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  tourists'  return,  Mrs.  Mar- 
low's  carriage  drew  up  at  Mr.  Hunt's  door,  by  appointment, 
to  take  the  mistress  of  the  house  upon  the  proposed  visit  of 
criticism  of  her  daughter's  establishment.  Mrs.  MarloAv 
was  in  a  sunny  mood,  and  indisposed  to  censure,  as  was 


142  HUSKS. 

evinced  by  ejaculations  of  pleasure  at  the  general  effect  oi 
each  apartment  as  they  entered,  and  praise  of  its  componen 
parts.  Mrs.  Hunt  was  not  so  undiscriminating.  The  mil 
lionnaire's  wife  must  not  imagine  that  she  was  dazzled  fr 
any  show  of  elegance,  or  that  she  was  overjoyed  at  th< 
prospect  of  her  child's  having  so  beautiful  and  commodioui 
a  home. 

"  The  everlasting  oak  and  green !"  she  uttered,  as  the^ 
reached  the  dining-room.  "  It  is  a  pity  Mr.  Hammond  dk 
not  select  walnut  and  crimson  instead !  Green  is  very  un 
becoming  to  Sarah." 

a  Then  we  must  impress  upon  her  the  importance  of  cul 
tivating  healthy  roses  in  her  cheeks,  and  wearing  brigh 
warm  colors.  This  combination — green  and  oak — is  pretty 
and  serviceable,  I  think.  The  table  is  very  neatly  set 
Mary,"  continued  Mrs.  Marlow,  kindly,  to  the  tidy  serving 
maid.  "  Keep  an  eye  on  the  silver,  my  good  girl,  until  you 
mistress  comes.  Mrs.  Hunt,  shall  we  peep  into  the  china 
closets  before  we  go  to  the  kitchen?  I  have  taken  th< 
liberty,  at  Lewis's  request,  of  offering  to  your  daughter  th< 
services  of  a  couple  of  my  protegees^  excellent  servants 
who  lived  for  years  with  one  of  my  own  children — Mrs 
Morland,  now  in  Paris.  They  are  honest,  willing,  and,  '. 
think,  competent.  The  man-servant,  if  Lewis  sees  fit  t< 
keep  one,  he  must  procure  himself." 

The  china,  glass,  and  pantries  were  in  capital  order 
the  kitchen  well  stocked,  light,  and  clean,  and  dinner  ove] 
the  fire. 

"  You  will  be  punctual  to  the  minute,  Katy,  please !"  wa: 
the  warning  here.  "Mr.  Hammond  is  particular  in  th< 
matter  of  time." 

"  And  you  will  see  that  my  daughter  has  a  cup  of  clear 
strong  coffee !"  ordered  Mrs.  Hunt,  magisterially.  "  She  i< 
delicate,  and  accustomed  to  the  very  best  of  cookery.* 


HUSKS.  '143 

And,  having  demonstrated  her  importance  and  superior 
housewifery  to  the  round-eyed  cook,  she  swept  out. 

To  an  unprejudiced  eye,  the  whole  establishment  was 
without  a  flaw ;  and,  undisturbed  by  the  captious  objections 
of  her  companion  in  the  survey,  Mrs.  Marlow  saw  and 
judged  for  herself,  and  carried  home  with  her  a  most  pleas 
ing  imagination  of  Lewis's  gratification,  and  Sarah's  de 
lighted  surprise  with  the  scene  that  was  to  close  their  day 
of  cold  and  weariness. 

By  Mr.  Hammond's  expressed  desire  to  his  father-in-law, 
there  was  no  one  except  the  domestics  in  the  house  when 
they  arrived.  As  the  carriage  stopped,  the  listening  maid 
opened  the  door,  and  a  stream  of  radiance  shot  into  the 
misty  night  across  the  wet  pavement  upon  the  two  figures 
that  stepped  from  the  conveyance. 

"  In  happy  homes  he  sees  the  light."  The  mental  quota 
tion  brought  back  to  Sarah  the  vision  of  that  lonely  evening, 
ten  months  before,  when  she  had  moaned  it  in  her  dreary 
twilight  musings  at  the  window  of  her  little  room. 
"Dreary  then,  hopeless  now!"  and  with  this  voiceless  sigh, 
she  crossed  the  threshold  of  her  destined  abode.  With  a 
kindly  greeting  to  the  servants  in  the  hall,  Lewis  hurried 
his  wife  onward,  past  the  parlor  doors,  into  a  library  sitting- 
room,  back  of  the  show  apartments,  warm  and  bright, 
smiling  a  very  home  welcome. 

Here  he  placed  her  in  a  deep  cushioned  chair,  and,  press 
ing  her  hands  in  his,  kissed  her,  with  a  heartfelt — "  May 
you  be  very  happy  in  our  home,  dear  wife !" 

"Thank  you!"  she  replied.  "It  is  pleasant  here,  and 
you  are  too  kind." 

"  That  is  impossible  where  you  are  concerned.  Sit  here, 
while  I  see  to  the  trunks.  When  they  are  carried  up 
stairs,  you  can  go  to  your  room.  Throw  off  your  hat  and 
cloak." 


144  HUSKS. 

He  was  very  thoughtful  of  her  comfort — too  thoughtful, 
because  his  love  made  him  watchful  of  her  every  look, 
word,  and  gesture.  She  was  glad  of  the  brief  respite  from 
this  vigilance,  that  allowed  her  to  bury  her  face  in  her  hands 
and  groan  aloud.  She  had  no  heart  to  look  around  her 
cage.  N"o  doubt  it  was  luxurious;  the  bars  softly  and 
richly  lined;  the  various  arrangements  the  best  of  their 
kind ;  still,  it  was  nothing  but  a  cage — a  prison,  from  which 
death  only  couldrrelease  her. 

The  trim  maid  came  for  her  wrappings,  and  directly 
afterwards  Lewis,  to  take  her  up-stairs. 

"  Not  a  very  elaborate  toilet,  dear,"  he  said,  as  he  left 
her  for  his  dressing-room.  "You will  see  no  one  this  even 
ing  but  our  father  and  mother,  and  they  will  remember 
that  you  have  been  travelling  all  day." 

"When  she  was  ready,  it  lacked  still  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
of  dinner-time,  and  she  acceded  to  Lewis's  proposal  that 
they  should  go  over  their  dwelling.  By  his  order,  there 
were  lights  in  every  room.  The  graceful  furniture,  the 
well-contrasted  hues  of  the  soft  carpets,  the -curtains  and 
pictures  showed  to  fine  advantage.  Every  thing  was  in 
place,  from  cellar  to  attic ;  not  a  symptom  of  parsimony  or 
cheapness  in  the  whole ;  and  all  betokened,  besides  excellent 
judgment,  such  conformity  to,  or  unison  with  her  taste, 
that  Sarah,  with  all  her  heaviness  of  heart,  was  pleased. 
She  was  touched  too  with  gratitude  or  remorse ;  for,  when 
they  were  back  in  the  cozy  sitting-room,  she  laid  her  hand 
timidly  on  that  of  her  husband,  and  said,  falteringly : 

"  I  do  not  deserve  that  you  should  take  so  much  pains  to 
gratify  me,  Mr.  Hammond.'1' 

Over  Lewis's  face  there  flushed  one  of  the  rare  smiles 
that  made  him  positively  handsome  while  they  lasted.  He 
grasped  the  shrinking  fingers  firmly,  and  drew  his  wife 
close  to  his  side. 


HUSKS.  145 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  how  to  repay  me  for  all  that  I  have 
done,  or  ever  can  do,  to  promote  your  ease  and  enjoy 
ment?" 

"If  you  please."     But  her  heart   sank,  as  she  foresaw 
ome  demands  upon  a  love  that  had  never  existed — a  treas 
ury  that,  to  him,  was  sealed  and  empty ;   yet  whose  pov 
erty  she  dared  not  avow. 

"Call  me  'Lewis,'  now  that  we  are  at  home,  dear.     I 
cannot  realize  that  you  are  indeed  all  mine — that  our  lives 
are  one  and  the  same,  while  you  continue  that  very  proper 
Mr.  Hammond.'  " 

'  It  comes  more  naturally  to  my  tongue,  and  don't  you 
think  it  more  respectful  than — than — the  other?" 

"  I  ask  no  such  form  of  respect  from  you.  I  do  not  fear 
est  you  should  fail  to  'honor  and  obey'  me,  you  little 
3aragon  of  duty !  Believe  me,  dearest,  I  fully  understand 
and  reverence  the  modest  reserve,  that  has  not  yet  ceased 
to  be  shyness,  in  the  expression  of  your  sentiments  towards 
me.  You  are  not  demonstrative  by  nature.  Neither  am  I. 
But  since  you  are  my  other  self,  and  there  is  no  living  being 
nearer  to  you  than  myself,  ought  we  not  to  overcome  this 
propensity  to,  or  custom  of,  locking  up  our  feelings  in  our 
own  breasts?  Let  me  begin  by  a  confession  of  one  un 
comfortable  complaint,  under  which  I  have  labored  ever 
since  our  engagement.  Do  you  know,  darling,  that  I  abso 
lutely  hunger — I  cannot  give  any  other  name  to  the  long 
ing — I  hunger  and  thirst  to  hear  you  say  that  you  love 
me !  Do  you  remember  that  you  have  never  told  me  in  so 
many  words  what  you  have  given  me  other  good  reasons 
for  believing  ?  I  need  but  one  thing  this  evening  to  fill  my 
cup  with  purest  content.  It  is  to  have  you  say — openly, 
fearlessly,  as  my  wife  has  a  right  to  do — 'Lewis,  I  love 
you!'" 

"  It  need  be  a  source  of  no  unhappiness  to  be  married  to 
7  L    " 


146  HTSKS. 

a  man  whom  one  does  not  love,  provided  he  is  kind  anc 
generous !"  say  match-makers  and  worldly-wise  mothers 
Perhaps  not,  after  one's  conscience  is  seared  into  callosity 
by  perjuries,  and  her  forehead  grown  bold  as  brass ;  bui 
the  neophyte  in  the  laudable  work  of  adaptation  to  such  cir 
cumstances  will  trip  in  her  words  and  color  awkwardb 
while  acquiring  this  enviable  hardihood. 

Sarah's  head  fell,  and  her  face  was  stained  with  blushes 
One  wild  impulse  was  to  throw  herself  at  the  feet  of  bin 
whom  she  had  wronged  so  foully,  and,  confessing  her  mad 
wicked  deception  upon  his  holiest  feelings,  pray  him  to  senc 
her  away — to  cast  her  adrift,  and  rid  himself  of  a  curse 
while  he  freed  her  from  the  gentle,  yet  intolerable  bondagi 
of  his  love. 

"  Dinner  is  ready !"  announced  the  servant.  Sarah' 
senses  returned,  and  with  them  self-control.  With  a  strangi 
smile,  she  glanced  up  at  him — a  look  he  did  not  undei 
stand,  yet  could  not  guess  was  born  of  anguish — and  said 
with  a  hesitation  that  seemed  pretty  and  coquettish  t< 
him — "  Lewis  !  do  you  hear  ?  May  it  please  your  worship 
I  am  very  hungry !" 

"  Tease !  I  will  have  my  revenge  yet !  See  if  I  d« 
not !" 

Laughing  lightly,  she  eluded  his  outstretched  arm,  an< 
sprang  past  him  into  the  hall  leading  to  the  dining-room 
She  assumed  the  seat  at  the  head  of  the  table  with  a  burlesqu 
of  dignity,  and  throughout  the  meal  was  more  talkativ 
and  frolicsome  than  he  had  ever  seen  her  before.  So  cap 
tivated  was  he  by  her  lively  discourse  and  bright  looks 
that  he  was  sorry  to  hear  the  ring,  proclaiming  the  comins 
of  the  expected  visitors.  The  dessert  had  not  been  re 
moved,  and  the  girl  was  instructed  to  show  them  imme 
diately  irto  the  dining-room. 

A  toast  was  drunk  to  the  prosperity  of  the  lately  es 


HUSKS.  147 

tablished  household,  and  the  gentlemen  went  off  to  the 
library. 

"  Always  see  to  putting  away  your  silver,  Sarah !"  coun 
selled  the  mother.  "  And  you  had  ought  to  get  a  common 
set  of  dinner  and  breakfast  things.  This  china  is  too  nice 
for  every-day  use.  Of  course,  Mr.  Hammond  can  afford  to 
get  more  when  this  is  broken  ;  but  it's  a  first-rate  rule,  child, 
as  you'll  find,  to  put  your  money  where  it  will  show  most. 
That's  the  secret  of  my  management.  Mr.  Hammond  must 
give  you  an  allowance  for  housekeeping  and  pin-money. 
Speak  to  him  about  it  right  away.  Men  are  more  liberal 
while  the  honeymoon  lasts  than  they  ever  are  afterwards. 
Strike  while  the  iron  is  hot.  You  can't  complain  of  your 
husband,  so  far.  He  has  set  you  up  very  handsome.  If  I 
had  been  consulted  about  furnishing,  I  would  have  saved 
enough  off  of  those  third-story  chambers  and  the  kitchen  to 
buy  another  pair  of  mirrors  for  your  parlors.  The  mantels 
has  a  bare  look.  I  noticed  it  directly  I  went  in.  To  be 
sure,  the  Parian  ornaments  are  pretty  and  tasty,  and  expen 
sive  enough — dear  knows !  but  they  don't  make  much  of  a 
display." 

"I  do  not  like  the  fashion  of  lining  walls  with  mirrors," 
said  Sarah,  in  her  old,  short  way ;  "  and  am  satisfied  with 
the  house  as  it  is.  Shall  we  join  the  gentlemen  ?" 

Nothing  had  ever  showed  her  more  plainly  the  degrada 
tion  of  her  false  position  than  the  confident  air  her  mother 
wore  in  making  her  coarse  observations,  and  instructing  her 
as  to  the  method  of  managing  her  generous,  confiding  hus 
band.  It  was  the  free-masonry  of  a  mercenary  wife,  whose 
spouse  would  have  been  better  represented  to  her  mind  by 
his  money-bag  than  his  own  proper  person,  towards  another 
of  the  same  craft,  who  rated  her  lawful  banker  by  corre 
sponding  rules. 

"  Will  I  then  really  grow  to  be  like  her  and  her  associ- 


148  HUSKS. 

ates  ?"  Sarah  questioned  inly.  "  Will  a  fine  house  and  its 
fixtures,  will  dress  and  equipage  and  pin-money  so  increase 
in  importance  as  to  fill  this  aching  vacuum  in  my  heart  ? 
Will  a  position  in  life,  and  the  envy  of  my  neighbors,  make 
up  to  me  for  the  loss  of  the  love  of  which  I  used  to  dream, 
the  happiness  which  the  world  owes  me  yet  ?  Is  this  the 
coin  in  which  it  would  redeem  its  promises  ?" 

Mr.  Hunt's  mild  features  wore  their  happiest  expression 
this  evening.  He  arose  at  the  ladies'  entrance,  and  beckon 
ed  his  daughter  to  a  seat  on  the  sofa  beside  him. 

"  You  are  a  little  travel-worn !"  he  said.  "  Your  cheeks 
are  not  very  ruddy." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  them  when  they  were  ?"  asked  Sarah, 
playfully. 

"  She  was  always  just  that  pale  when  she  was  a  baby," 
said  Mrs.  Hunt,  setting  herself  in  the  arm-chair  proffered  by 
her  son-in-law.  "  Lucy  stole  all  the  roses  from  her."  Sarah 
may  have  thought  that  other  and  more  grievous  thefts  had 
succeeded  this  doubtful  one,  but  she  neither  looked  nor  said 
this.  "And  that  reminds  me,  Mr.  II.!  Did  you  bring 
Lucy's  letter  for  Sarah  to  read  ?" 

"  I  did."  Mr.  Hunt  produced  it.  "  Keep  it,  and  read  it 
at  your  leisure,  Sarah." 

"  They  are  supremely  happy,  I  suppose  ?"  remarked  Lewis, 
with  the  benevolent  interest  incident  to  his  fellowship  of 
feeling  with  them. 

"For  all  the  world  like  two  turtle-doves!"  Mrs.  Hunt 
rejoined.  "  Their  letters  are  a  curiosity.  It  is  c  Phil.'  and 
*  Lucy'  from  one  end  to  the  other.  I  mean  to  save  them  to 
show  to  them  five  years  from  now.  Hot  love  is  soon  cool, 
and  by  and  by  they  will  settle  down  as  sensible  as  any  of 
the  rest  of  us.  You  don't  begin  so,  I  see,  Sarah,  and  I  am 
pleased  at  it.  Between  me  and  you,  it's  two-thirds  of  it 
humbug!  There  is  Victoria  West  that  was!  She  looks 


HUSKS.  149 

ready,  in  company,  to  eat  up  that  lean  monkey  of  a  George 
Bond.  I  don't  believe  but  she  shows  him  the  other  side  of 
the  pictures  in  private." 

Sarah  heard  her  father's  suppressed  sigh,,  and  felt,  without 
looking  up,  that  her  husband's  eyes  sought  hers  wistfully. 
The  unobservant  dame  pursued  her  free  and  easy  discourse. 
Mr.  Hammond  was  "  one  of  the  family"  now,  and  there  was 
no  more  occasion  for  choice  grammar  or  fine  sentiments 
before  him. 

"  Not  that  I  blame  Victoria  for  taking  him.  He  was  a 
good  offer,  and  she  wasn't  much  admired  by  the  gentle 
men — rich  as  Mr.  West  is.  Mr.  Bond  is  twenty-five  years 
older  than  she  is,  and  wears  false  teeth  and  a  toupee ;  but  I 
suppose  she  is  willing  to  overlook  trifles.  She  watches  out 
for  the  main  chance,  and  will  help  him  take  care  of  his 
money,  as  well  as  spend  it.  Vic.  is  a  prudent  girl." 

"  Lucy — Mrs.  Benson — was  at  home  when  she  wrote,  was 
she  not  ?"  interrogated  Mr.  Hammond. 

*'  Yes,  at  his  father's.  His  mother  keeps  house,  and  Lucy 
has  nothing  to  do  but  ride,  visit,  and  entertain  company. 
She  says  the  house  is  crowded  the  whole  time,  and  she  has 
so  many  beaux  that  Philip  stands  no  chance  of  speaking  a 
word  to  her.  She  is  perfectly  happy." 

Notwithstanding  the  various  feelings  of  the  listeners,  none 
of  them  could  resist  this  picture  of  a  felicitous  honeymoon, 
so  naively  spoken.  Lewis's  laugh  cleared  the  vapors  from 
his  brow,  and  the  pain  at  Sarah's  heart  did  not  hinder  her 
from  joining  in. 

"  And  the  ousted  bridegroom,  perforce,  seeks  consolation 
in  the  society  of  his  fair  friends  ?"  said  Lewis.  "If  this  is 
the  way  young  married  people  show  the  love-sickness  you 
complained  of  just  now,  Mrs.  Hunt,  I  am  content  with  our 
more  staid  ways — eh,  Sarah  ?" 

"  Quiet  ways  suit  me  best,"  was  the  answer. 


150  HUSKS. 

"'Still  water  runs  deep,'"  quoted  Mrs.  Hunt.  "I  used 
to  worry  over  your  stay-at-home  habits  and  eternal  study 
of  books,  Sarah ;  but  I'm  ready  to  say  now  that  you  was 
sensible  to  behave  as  you  did,  as  it  has  turned  out.  I  don't 
mean  to  flatter  Mr.  Hammond,  but  I'd  ten  times  rather 
you  had  taken  him  than  a  dried-up  widower  like  George 
Bond." 

"  Thank  you !"  bowed  Lewis,  desirous  of  diverting  atten 
tion  from  Sarah's  growing  uneasiness  beneath  her  mother's 
congratulations. 

Mrs.  Hunt  held  on  her  way.  "I  never  had  a  fear  lest 
Lucy  shouldn't  marry  well.  She  was  pretty  and  attractive, 
and  knew  too  much  about  the  world  to  throw  herself  away 
for  the  sake  of  love  in  a  cottage.  But  now  the  danger  is 
over,  I  will  allow  that  I  used  to  mistrust  Sarah  here  some 
times.  You  was  just  queer  enough  to  fall  in  love  with  some 
adventurer  with  a  foreign  name,  and  never  a  cent  in  his 
pocket — yes,  and  marry  him,  too,  in  spite  of  all  that  could 
be  said  and  done  to  prevent  it.  I  was  forever  in  a  '  feaze' 
about  you ;  fancying  that  you  was  born  to  make  an  out-and- 
out  love-match — the  silliest  thing  a  girl  can  do,  in  my 
opinion." 

"  You  never  dreamed  of  her  '  taking  up,'  as  the  phrase  is, 
with  a  humdrum  individual  like  myself,"  said  Lewis.  "  Nor, 
to  be  candid,  did  I,  for  a  long  time,  Mrs.  Hunt.  Yet  I  can 
not  say  that  I  regret  her  action,  disadvantageous  to  herself 
though  it  was.  I  wrote'  to  you  of  our  visit  to  New  Orleans, 
did  I  not,  sir  ?"  he  continued  to  Mr.  Hunt,  inwardly  a  little 
disgusted  by  the  frank  revelations  his  mamma-in-law  was 
making  of  her  principles  and  plans. 

The  subject  so  interesting  to  most  wedded  people,  so  em 
barrassing  to  one  of  the  present  party,  was  mot  again  intro 
duced  during  the  elder  couple's  stay.  When  Lewis  returned 
to  the  library,  after  seeing  them  out,  Sarah  sat  where  he 


HUSKS.  151 

had  left  her,  her  hand  shading  her  eyes — deep  in  thought, 
or  overcome  by  weariness. 

"  You  had  better  go  up  to  your  room,  dear,"  said  Lewis. 
"  I  wonder  you  are  not  worn  out  completely." 

She  arose  to  obey ;  walked  as  far  as  the  door,  then  came 
back  to  him. 

"  It  may  appear  strange  to  you  that  I  should  speak  openly 
of  such  a  suspicion ;  but  I  must  beg  you  not  to  suppose  for 
an  instant  that  in  my  acceptance  of  your  offer  of  marriage, 
I  was  actuated  by  mercenary  motives.  You  look  sur 
prised" — she  hurried  on  yet  faster  while  her  resolution 
lasted — "  but  I  could  not  rest  without  doing  myself  this  act 
of  justice.  Much  that  mother  said  to-night  might — must 
have  led  you  to  this  conclusion.  I  would  not  have  you 
think  worse  of  me  than  I  deserve,  and  of  this  one  act  of 
baseness  I  am  innocent." 

"  My  precious  little  wife,  how  excited  you  are  !  and  over 
what  a  nonsensical  imagination !  Suspect  you — the  noblest 
as  well  as  the  dearest  of  women — of  selling  yourself,  body 
and  soul,  for  money?  Listen  to  my  speech  now,  dear 
Sarah !" 

He  sat  down  and  pulled  her  to  his  knee.  "  I  esteem  you, 
as  I  love  you,  above  all  the  rest  of  your  sex — above  any 
other  created  mortal.  I  know  you  to  be  a  pure,  high-minded 
woman.  When  I  part  with  this  persuasion,  may  I  part  also 
with  the  life  that  doubt  on  this  point  would  render  wretch 
ed  !  Judge,  then,  whether  it  be  possible  for  me  to  link  this 
holy  realization  of  womanhood  with  the  thought  of  another 
character,  which  I  will  describe.  I  hold  that  she  who 
enters  the  hallowed  state  of  wedlock  through  motives  of 
pecuniary  interest,  or  ambition,  or  convenience — indeed, 
through  any  consideration  save  that  of  love,  single  and 
entire,  for  him  to  whom  she  pledges  her  vows,  stands,  in  the 
sight  of  her  Maker  and  the  angels,  on  a  level  with  the  most 


152  HUSKS. 

abandoned  outcast  that  pollutes  the  earth  she  treads.  I 
shock  you,  I  see ;  but  on  this  subject  I  feel  strongly.  I 
have  seen  much,  too  much,  of  fashionable  marriages  formed 
for  worldly  aggrandizement — for  riches ;  sometimes  in  pique 
at  having  lost  a  coveted  lover.  With  my  peculiar  senti 
ments,  I  feel  that  I  could  endure  no  heavier  curse  than  to 
contract  an  alliance  like  any  of  these.  I  repeat  it,  I  believe 
in  Woman  as  God  made  her  and  intended  she  should  live, 
if  for  no  other  reason  than  because  I  recollect  my  mother, 
boy  as  I  was  when  she  died ;  and  because  I  know  and  have 
you,  my  true,  blessed  wife !" 


HUSKS.  153 


CHAPTER    XII. 

A  TEAR  and  five  months  had  passed  away  since  the  even 
ing  when  Lewis  Hammond  held  his  conscience-stricken  wife 
upon  his  knee,  and  told  her — in  fervid  words  that  singularly 
belied  his  calm  and  even  demeanor  at  other  times — of  his 
faith  in  and  love  for  her,  and  his  abhorrence  of  the  sin  she 
felt  in  her  trembling  soul  that  she  had  committed.  Yet  she 
had  not  the  superhuman  courage  required  to  contradict  a 
trust  like  this.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to  keep  up  the 
weary,  wicked  mockery  unto  the  end. 

"  But  in  all  these  months  she  must  have  learned  to  care 
for  him!"  cries  Mrs.  Common  Sense.  "There  is  nothing 
disagreeable  about  the  man.  He  is  not  brilliant ;  yet  he  has 
intelligence  and  feeling,  and  is  certainly  attached  to  his  wife. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  he  indulges  her  in  every  reason  a- 
ble  request,  and  comports  himself  in  all  respects  like  an  ex 
emplary  husband." 

Granted,  to  each  and  every  head  of  your  description,  my 
dear  madam !  But,  for  all  that,  his  obdurate  wife  had  not 
come  to  love  him.  I  blush  to  say  it ;  but  while  we  are  strip 
ping  hearts  let  us  not  be  squeamish  !  There  had  been  sea 
sons,  lasting  sometimes  for  weeks,  when  her  existence  was 
a  continual  warfare  between  repugnance  to  him  and  her 
sense  of  duty ;  when  she  dreaded  to  hear  his  step  in  the 
hall,  and  shrank  inwardly  from  his  caress  ;  watched  and 
fought,  until  strength  and  mind  were  well-nigh  gone.  Mark 
me !  I  do  not  deny  that  this  was  as  irrational  as  it  was  rep- 
7* 


154  HUSKS. 

rehensible ;  but  I  have  never  held  up  my  poor  Sarah  as  a 
model  of  reason  or  propriety.  From  the  beginning,  I  have 
made  her  case  a  warning.  The  fates  forbid  that  I  should 
commend  it  to  any  as  an  example  for  imitation  !  A  passion 
ate,  proud,  reticent  girl ;  a  trusting,  loving,  deceived  woman 
a  hopeless,  desperate  bride — whose  heart  lay  like  a  pulseless 
stone  in  her  breast  at  the  most  ardent  love-words  of  her 
husband,  and  throbbed  with  wild,  uncontrollable  emotion 
at  the  fraternal  tone  and  kiss  of  her  lost  and  only  love — I 
have  no  plea  for  her,  save  the  words  of  Infinite  compassion 
and  Divine  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  human  woe : 
"  Let  him  that  is  without  sin  among  you  cast  the  first  stone 
at  her!" 

The  highly  respectable  firm  of  which  Mr.  Hammond  was 
the  junior  member,  was  adding,  if  not  field  to  field,  thousand 
to  thousand,  of  the  wherewithal  for  the  purchase  of  fields, 
or,  what  was  better  still,  city  lots.  Mrs.  Lewis  Hammond 
had  set  up  her  carriage  about  a  year  after  her  marriage ;  said 
equipage  being  a  gift  from  her  generous  husband  on  the  oc 
casion  of  the  first  airing  of  the  little  "  Baby  Belle,"  as  she 
was  always  called  in  the  family.  Not  until  subsequent  events 
had  endowed  it  witji  deeper  and  saddest  interest  did  Sarah 
read  Aldrich's  beautiful  poem  bearing  the  above  title. 
Lewis's  mother's  name  was  Isabella.  Her  grandchild  re 
ceived  the  same,  which  became  "  Belle"  on  the  mother's 
tongue,  and  then,  because  it  was  natural  to  say  "  Baby"  too, 
the  pretty  alliteration  was  adopted. 

To  a  man  of  Lewis's  domestic  tastes  the  advent  of  this 
child  was  a  source  of  the  liveliest  pleasure,  and  the  tiny  in 
mate  of  his  household  was  another  and  a  powerful  tie,  bind 
ing  him  to  a  home  already  dear.  But  to  the  mother's  lonely 
life,  so  bare  of  real  comfort  or  joy — haunted  by  memory  and 
darkened  by  remorse — the  precious  gift  came  like  a  ray  of 
Heaven's  purest  light,  a  strain  of  angel  music,  saying  to 


HUSKS.  155 

care,  "  Sleep !"  to  hope,  "  Awake,  the  morning  cometh !"  Be 
neath  the  sunshine  of  so  much  love,  the  infant  throve  finely, 
and  without  being  a  greater  prodigy  than  the  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  miracles  of  beauty  and  sprightliness  who, 
with  it,  composed  the  thousand  "  blessed  babies"  of  the  day, 
was  still  a  pretty,  engaging  creature,  whose  gurgling  laugh 
and  communicative  "  coo"  beguiled  the  mother's  solitude, 
and  made  cheerful  the  lately  silent  house. 

It  was  late  in  the  June  afternoon,  and  arrayed  in  clean 
white  frock,  broad  sash,  and  shoulder-knots  of  pink  ribbon, 
the  small  lady  sat  on  her  mother's  lap  at  the  front  window, 
awaiting  the  appearance  of  the  husband  and  father.  Sarah 
had  altered  much  since  her  marriage ;  "  improved  wonder 
fully,"  said  her  acquaintances.  There  was  still  in  her  mien  a 
touch  of  haughtiness;  in  her  countenance  the  look  that  spoke 
profound  thought  and  introspection.  Still,  when  in  repose, 
her  brow  had  a  cast  of  seriousness  that  bordered  on  melan 
choly  ;  but  over  her  features  had  passed  a  change  like  that 
wrought  by  the  sculptor's  last  stroke  to  the  statue.  The 
mould  was  the  same — the  chiselling  more  clear  and  fine. 
Especially  after  the  birth  of  her  child  was  this  refining  pro 
cess  most  apparent  in  its  effects.  There  was  a  softness  in  her 
smile,  a  gentle  sweetness  in  her  voice,  as  she  now  talked  to 
the  babe,  directing  its  attention  to  the  window,  lest  the 
father's  approach  should  be  unnoticed,  and  he  disappointed 
in  his  shout  of  welcome. 

"  How  affected !  gotten  up  for  show  !"  sneered  the  child 
less  Mrs.  Bond,  as  she  rolled  by  in  her  carriage,  on  her  way 
to  her  handsome,  cheerless  home  and  its  cross  master. 

"  She  has  chosen  her  position  well,  at  all  events,"  rejoined 
her  companion,  a  neighbor  and  gossip,  who  had  taken  Lucy's 
place  in  Victoria's  confidence. 

"  Ridiculous !"  She  spat  out  the  ejaculation  from  the 
overflowing  of  her  spleen.  "  I  could  laugh  at  her  airs,  if 


156  H  U  8K  S  . 

they  did  not  make  me  mad !  One  would  think,  to  see  her 
as  she  sits  there,  that  she  had  decked  herself  and  the  child 
to  please  a  man  that  she  doated  upon — like  the  good  wives 
we  read  of  in  novels." 

"  And  why  shouldn't  she  be  fond  of  him  ?  He  is  a  good- 
hearted  fellow,  and  lets  her  do  pretty  much  as  she  pleases, 
I  imagine,  besides  waiting  on  her  like  any  lover.  I  often 
meet  them  riding  out  together.  That  is  more  than  your 
husband  or  mine  ever  does,  my  dear." 

"  They  go  quite  as  often  as  we  desire  their  company,  I 
fancy.  Mine  does,  I  know.  Perhaps  if  we  had  the  reason 
for  parading  our  conjugal  devotion  that  Mrs.  Hammond  has, 
we  might  wheedle  our  lawful  lords  into  taking  a  seat  along 
side  of  us,  once  in  a  while.  There's  nothing  like  keeping 
up  appearances,  particularly  if  the  reality  is  lacking.  If 
Lewis  Hammond  knew  some  of  the  pretty  stories  I  could 
tell  him,  about  his  Sarah's  love-scrapes,  he  would  not  look 
so  sublimely  contented  with  his  three-story  paradise.  The 
elegant  clothes  he  piles  upon  that  squaw  of  his  are  prepos 
terous,  and  she  carries  them  off  as  if  she  had  dressed  well 
all  her  days.  I  tell  you,  she  never  looked  decent  until  she 
put  on  her  wedding-dress.  You  have  heard  of  the  fainting- 
scene  that  took  place  that  morning,  I  suppose  ?  Old  Mother 
Hunt  said  it  was  '  sensibility,'  and  '  nervous  agitation ;'  the 
company  laid  it  to  the  heat  of  the  room ;  and  I  laughed  in 
my  sleeve,  and  said  nothing.  If  that  woman  aggravates 
me  much  more,  I  will  remind  her  of  some  passages  in  her 
experience  she  does  not  dream  that  I  know." 

"  Do  tell  me  what  you  mean  ?  I  am  dying  of  curiosity ! 
Did  she  flirt  very  hard  before  she  was  married  ?" 

"  She  never  had  the  chance.  Lewis  Hammond  was  her 
only  offer." 

"  What  was  the  matter,  then?" 

"  I  can't  tell  you  now.     It  is  too  long  a  story.    The  next 


HUSKS.  157 

time  she  frets  me,  as  she  does  whenever  she  crosses  my 
path,  maybe  you  will  hear  the  romance.  Shall  I  set  you 
down  at  your  door,  or  will  you  enliven  me  by  spending  the 
evening  with  me?  I  do  not  expect  other  company,  and 
George  falls  asleep  over  his  newspaper  as  soon  as  he  has 
despatched  his  dinner.  Come  in,  and  I  will  show  you  the 
loveliest  sofa-pillow  you  ever  beheld  ;  a  new  pattern  I  have 
just  finished." 

"  Thank  you !  I  would  accept  the  invitation  with  pleas 
ure,  but  I  have  not  been  home  since  breakfast,  and  James 
makes  such  a  fuss  if  he  does  not  find  me  in  the  nursery, 
tending  that  whimpering  baby,  when  he  comes  up  at  night, 
that  it  is  as  much  as  my  life  is  worth  to  stay  out  after  six 
o'clock.  Any  thing  for  peace,  you  know ;  and  since  we 
wives  are  slaves,  it  is  best  to  keep  on  the  blind  side  of  our 
masters." 

The  day  had  been  warm  down  town,  and  as  Lewis  Ham 
mond  stepped  from  the  stage  at  the  corner  nearest  his  house, 
he  felt  jaded  and  dispirited — a  physical  depression,  aug 
mented  by  a  slight  headache.  A  business  question  which  he 
had  talked  over  with  Mr.  Mario w,  before  leaving  the  store, 
contributed  its  weight  of  thoughtfulness,  and  he  was  not 
conscious  how  near  he  was  to  his  dwelling  until,  aroused  by 
a  sharp  tap  upon  the  window-pane,  he  glanced  up  at  the 
animated  tableau  framed  by  the  sash — the  smiling  mother, 
and  the  babe  leaping  and  laughing,  and  stretching  its  hands 
towards  him. 

"  This  is  the  sweetest  refreshment  a  man  can  ask  after 
his  day  of  toil,"  he  said,  when,  having  kissed  wife  and  child, 
he  took  the  latter  in  his  arms.  He  was  not  addicted  to 
complimentary  speeches,  and  while  his  esteem  and  attach 
ment  for  his  chosen  partner  were  even  stronger  than  they 
had  been  in  the  heart  of  the  month-old  bridegroom,  he  was 
less  apt  to  express  them  to  her  now  than  then.  In  one 


158  H  U  8  K  S. 

respect,  and  only  one,  his  wedded  life  had  brought  him 
disappointment.  Unreserved  confidence  and  demonstrative 
affection  on  his  side  had  failed  to  draw  forth  similar  exhibi 
tions  of  feeling  from  Sarah.  Kind,  thoughtful,  dutiful, 
scrupulously  faithful  to  him  and  his  interests  in  word,  look, 
and  deed,  she  ever  was.  Yet  he  saw  that  she  was  a 
changed  being  from  the  fond,  impulsive  daughter,  whose 
ministry  in  her  father's  sick-room  had  won  for  her  a  hus 
band's  love.  Her  reception  of  his  affectionate  advances  was 
passive — a  reception  merely,  without  apparent  return. 
Never,  and  he  had  ceased  now  to  ask  it,  had  she  once  said 
to  him  the  phrase  he  had  craved  to  hear — "  I  love  you !" 
Yet  he  would  as  soon  have  questioned  the  reality  of  his 
existence  as  that  she  did  love  him.  He  held  inviolate  his 
trust  in  the  motive  that  had  induced  her  to  become  his  wife, 
and  in  this  calm  confidence  he  was  fain  to  rest,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  protestations  that  would  have  gladdened  his  soul, 
while  they  could  hardly  have  strengthened  his  faith  in  her 
affection. 

Few  wives,  however  loving,  have  been  more  truly  cher 
ished  than  was  Sarah,  and  of  this  she  was  partially  aware. 
If  she  had  remained  ignorant  of  Lewis's  sentiments  and 
wishes  with  regard  to  herself,  until  the  grieved  and  unre 
quited  love  had  subsided  into  the  dull  aching  that  does  not, 
like  a  green  wound,  create,  by  its  very  smart,  a  spe 
cies  of  excitement  that  helps  one  bear  the  pain ;  had  he 
glided  gradually  into  the  joyless  routine  of  her  life's  duties, 
and  bided  his  time  of  speaking  until  he  had  made  himself 
necessary  to  her  comfort  and  peace,  he  might  have  won  a 
willing  bride.  But  what  omniscient  spirit  was  there  to 
instruct  and  caution  him  ?  He  met  and  loved  her,  supposing 
her  to  be  as  free  as  himself;  like  an  honest,  upright  man,  he 
told  that  love,  and,  without  a  misgiving,  placed  his  honor 
and  his  happiness  in  her  hands. 


HUSKS.  159 

Sarah  could  not  have  told  why  she  revolved  all  this  in 
her  unquiet  mind  as  he  sat  near  her,  playing  with  their 
;hild ;  yet  she  did  think  of  their  strange  sad  history,  and 
rom  the  review  arose  a  feeling  of  pity,  sincere,  almost 
ender,  for  him,  so  worthy  and  so  deceived.  She  remem 
bered  with  abasement  of  spirit  how  often  she  had  been 
•eady  to  hate  him  as  the  instrument  of  her  bondage ;  how 
wrathful  words  had  arisen  to  her  lips  at  the  moment  of  his 
greatest  kindness  ;  how  patiently  he  had  borne  her  coldness ; 
low  unflagging  was  his  care  of  and  for  her.  Over  the  dark, 
urbulent  gulf  of  the  unforgotten  past  that  sundered  their 
learts,  she  longed,  as  she  had  never  done  before,  to  call  to 
lim,  and  confessing  her  sin  against  Heaven  and  against 
him,  to  implore  pardon  for  the  sake  of  the  spotless  babe 
hat  smiled  into  the  father's  face  with  its  mother's  eyes, 
uld  he  be  merciful  ?  Slowly  and  emphatically  memory 
epeated  in  her  ear  his  denunciation  of  the  unloving  wife, 
md  courage  died  before  the  menaced  curse. 

"  Fudge !  Fiddlesticks !  what  frippery  nonsense !"  cry 
ut,  in  a  vehement  storm  of  indignation,  a  bevy  of  the 
Common  Sense  connection.  "  Are  we  not  staid  and  respect- 
ible  matrons  all  ?  Do  we  not  rear  our  daughters  virtuous 
ly,  and  teach  our  sons  to  honor  father  as  well  as  mother? 
Yet  who  of  us  troubles  herself  with  raking  in  the  cold  ashes 
of  her  '  long  ago'  for  the  bones  of  some  dead  and  gone  love 
— a  girlish  folly  of  which  she  would  be  ashamed  now  ? 
What  cares  Mr.  Common  Sense,  among  his  day-books  and 
ledgers,  in  his  study  or  in  his  office,  how  many  times  his  now 
correct  helpmeet  pledged  eternal  fidelity  to  other  lovers 
before  she  put  her  last  crop  of  wild  oats  into  the  ground, 
and  settled  for  life  with  him  ?  What  if  some  of  us,  may  be 
all,  if  driven  hard,  should  admit  that  when  we  stood  up 
before  the  minister  we  underwent  certain  qualms — call  them 
pangs,  if  you  like — at  the  thought  of  Tom  This,  or  Harry 


160  HUSKS 

That,  or  Dick  The  Other,  who,  if  circumstances  had  permit 
ted,  we  would  have  preferred  should  occupy  the  place  of 
'  The  man  whom  we  actually  held  by  the  hand  !'  While 
men  can  choose  their  mates,  and  women  can  only  take  such 
as  propose  to  them,  these  things  will  happen.  After  all, 
who  is  hurt  ?"  You  aver  that  none  of  you  are,  -mesdames, 
and  we  would  not  call  your  word  in  question.  Ladies  so 
conscientious  must,  of  necessity,  be  veracious,  even  in  love 
affairs. 

"  I  am  a  thoughtless  animal !"  said  Lewis  at  the  dinner- 
table.  "  There  is  a  letter  from  Lucy  !  Open  it — don't 
mind  me  !  I  will  crack  your  nuts  for  you  while  you  read 
it." 

There  was  a  troubled  look  in  Sarah's  eye  when  she  laid 
it  down.  "  Lucy  says  they  are  certainly  coming  North  this 
year — that  we  may  look  for  them  in  a  week  from  the  date 
of  this.  This  is  rather  sooner  than  mother  expected  them. 
Her  housecleaning  is  late  this  season,  in  consequence  of  her 
rheumatic  spell  in  May." 

"  Let  them  come  straight  here !  What  should  prevent 
them  ?  There  is  an  abundance  of  room  for  them — baby, 
nurse,  and  all.  It  will  be  a  grand  arrangement !"  said 
Lewis,  heartily. 

Sarah  was  backward  in  replying.  "  Father  and  mother 
may  object.  I  would  not  wound  them  by  interference  with 
their  guests." 

"  I  will  answer  that  mother  will  thank  us  to  take  care  of 
them  until  her  scrubbing  and  scalding  are  done.  And  Lucy 
would  not  be  willing  to  risk  her  baby's  health  in  a  damp 
house." 

"  I  will  go  and  see  mother  to-morrow  about  it,"  concluded 
Sarah.  She  still  appeared  dubious  as  to  the  expediency  of 
the  proposed  step,  a  thoughtfulness  that  did  not  wear  away 
during  the  whole  evening. 


H.TJ  8KB.  161 

The  Bensons  had  not  visited  New  York  the  preceding 
ear.  They  were  detained  at  the  South  by  a  combination 
f  causes,  the  principal  of  which  was  the  long  and  fatal  ill- 
ess  of  Philip's  mother.  Lucy  had  written  repeatedly  of  her 
ntense  desire  to  see  her  home  once  more,  declaiming  against 
he  providences  that  had  thwarted  their  projects,  like  an  im- 
atient,  unreasonable  child. 

"  Philip  says  it  is  not  convenient  for  him  to  go  just  yet," 
aid  her  letter  to  her  sister,  "  and  that  our  part  of  the  coun- 
ry  is  as  healthy  as  /Saratoga  itself  /  but  I  have  vowed  that 
will  not  wait  one  day  beyond  the  time  I  have  set.  It  sets 
ne  wild  to  think  of  being  in  Broadway  again — of  visiting 
nd  shopping,  and  seeing  you  all.  We  have  been  so  dull 
ere  since  Mrs.  Benson's  death,  and  Philip  is  as  solemn  as  a 
udge.  One  of  his  married  sisters  will  stay  with  the  old 
entleman  while  we  are  away.  O  Sarah!  I  am  sick  of 
ousekeeping  and  baby-nursing !  It  will  do  well  enough  for 
ne  when  I  need  spectacles  and  a.  wig ;  but  now,  while  I  am 
oung  enough  to  enjoy  life,  it  is  insufferable  /" 

"  Not  very  domestic,  is  she  ?"  observed  Lewis,  folding  up 
be  letter,  which  Sarah  had  handed  him.  "  Ah !  it  is  not 
very  man  who  has  such  a  gem  of  a  wife  as  I  have  !  It  ap- 
ears  to  me  that  the  married  women  of  these  days  are  not 
atisfied  unless  they  have  a  string  of  beaux  as  long  as  that 
f  a  popular  single  belle.  How  is  it,  little  one  ?  Do  you 
ver  catch  yourself  wishing  that  your  husband  were  not  such 
n  old-fashioned  piece  of  constancy,  and  would  give  some 
ther  fellow  a  chance  to  say  a  pretty  thing,  when  you  are  in 
ompany  ?' 

"  I  do  not  complain,"  said  Sarah,  demurely. 

"  Not  in  words,  perhaps ;  your  patience  is  wonderful  in 
every  thing.  But  how  do  you  feel  when  you  see  your  old 
neighbor,  Mrs.  Bond,  waltzing  every  set  with  the  gayest 
gallant  in  the  ball-room,  while  your  jailor  does  not  like  to 


162  HUSKS. 

have  you  *  polk'  at  all,  and  favors  your  dancing  only  with 
men  whom  he  knows  to  be  respectable." 

"  I  feel  that  Mr.  Hammond  is  a  sensible  man,  and  careful 
of  his  wife's  reputation,  even  in  trifles,  while  Mr.  Bond — ." 

"  Go  on  !    finish  your  sentence  !" 

"  And  his  lady  are  a  well-matched  pair  !" 

Much  as  she  disliked  Victoria,  and  knowing  that  she  was 
hated  still  by  Aer,  Sarah  deemed  it  a  necessary  and  common 
act  of  courtsey  to  her  sister's  friend  to  call  and  apprise  her 
of  Lucy's  probable  visit. 

tc  It  is  not  convenient  for  mother  to  receive  them  for 
a  week  yet,  on  account  of  certain  household  arrange 
ments,"  she  stated,  in  making  known  the  object  of  her 
visit  to  her  ancient  enemy.  "  So  you  will  find  Lucy  at  our 
house,  where  her  friends  will  be  received  as  if  they  were 
my  own." 

"  You  are  very  polite,  I  am  sure !"  replied  Mrs.  Bond, 
smothering  her  displeasure  at  Sarah's  studied  civility,  and 
noting,  with  her  quick,  reptile  perceptions,  that  she  was  to 
be  tolerated  as  she  fancied  Sarah  would  imply,  merely  as 
Lucy's  early  associate.  "  And  the  Bensons  are  to  be  with 
you  !  I  shall  call  immediately  upon  their  arrival.  Poor,  dear 
Lucy  !  I  long  to  see  her.  She  has  had  a  vast  deal  of  trouble 
since  her  marriage — -has  she  not  ?" 

"  Except  the  death  of  her  mother-in-law,  she  has  had 
nothing  to  trouble  her  that  I  have  heard  of,"  answered  Sarah, 
rising  to  go. 

"  My  dear  creature  !  what  do  you  call  the  wear  and  tear 
of  managing  a  husband,  and  a  pack  of  unruly  servants,  and 
looking  after  a  baby  ?  And  she  was  such  a  belle  !  I  wonder 
if  she  is  much  broken  !" 

"  Come  and  see !" 

Mrs  Hammond  was  at  the  parlor  door. 

"  I  will — most  assuredly !     How  do  you  like  their  being 


HUSKS.  163 

artered  upon  you  ?     What  does  that  pattern  husband  of 
urs  say  to  this  ?" 

"  Madam  !"  said  Sarah,  surprised  and  offended  by  the  rude 
ery. 

"  Oh  !  I  don't  mean  that  it  would  not  be  very  delightful 
you  to  have  your  sister  with  you  ;  but  there  was  a  fool- 
rumor,  about  the  time  of  your  marriage,  that  you  and  Mr. 
nson  had  some  kind  of  a  love-passage,  down  in  the  coun- 
r ;  and  I  thought  that  Mr.  Hammond,  with  his  particularly 
ce  notions,  might  retain  an  unpleasant  recollection  of  the 
ry,  which  would  prevent  him  from  being  on  brotherly 
rms  with  his  old  rival.     Men  are  terribly  unreasonable 
rtals,  and  perfect  Turks  in  jealousy  !     We  cannot  be  too 
reful  not  to  provoke  their  suspicions." 
Not  for  the  universe  would  Sarah  have  betrayed  any  feel- 
g  at  this  insolence,  save  a  righteous  and  dignified  resent- 
ent  at  its  base  insinuations ;  but  the  ungovernable  blood 
•earned  in  crimson  violence  to  her  temples,  and  her  voice 
ook  when  she  would  have  held  it  firm. 
"  Mr.  Hammond  is  not  one  to  be  influenced  by  malicious 
ssip,  Mrs.  Bond,  if,  indeed,  the  report  you  have  taken  the 
erty  of  repeating  was  ever  circulated  except  by  its  author, 
jannot  thank  you  for  your  warning,  as  I  recognize  no  occa- 
>n  for  jealousy  in  my  conduct  or  character.     I  am  account- 
le  for  my  actions  to  my  conscience  and  my  husband,  and  I 
Lease  you  from  what  you  have  assumed  to  be  your  duty  of 
atching  and  criticising  my  personal  affairs.  Good-morning." 
"  I  struck  the  sore  spot !  no  doubt  of  that !"  soliloquized 
rs.  Bond,  recalling  Sarah's  start  of  pain  and  blush  at  the 
delicate  allusion  to  Philip  Benson.     "  That  woman  stirs  up 
the  bile  in  my  system  if  I  talk  two  minutes  with  her.     If 
ere  were  half  the  material  to  work  upon  in  that  vain,  weak 
ucy,  that  there  is  in  this  sister,  I  would  have  my  revenge. 
s  for  Lewis  Hammond,  he  is  a  love-sick  fool !" 


1(U  HUSKS. 

Sarah's  cheeks  had  not  lost  their  flush,  nor  had  her  heart 
ceased  its  angry  throbbings,  when  she  reached  home.  In 
the  solitude  of  her  chamber,  she  summoned  strength  and 
resolution  to  ask  herself  the  question,  so  long  avoided,  shun 
ned,  as  she  had  imagined,  in  prudence,  as  she  now  began  toj 
fear,  in  dread  of  a  truthful  reply. 

When  she  married  Lewis  Hammond,  she  loved  another. 
Fearful  as  was  this  sin,  it  would  be  yet  more  terrible  werd 
she  now  to  discover  a  lurking  fondness,  an  unconquered 
weakness  for  that  other,  in  the  heart  of  the  trusted  wife,  the 
mother  who,  from  that  guilty  bosom,  nourished  the  little 
being  that  was,  as  yet,  the  embodiment  of  unsullied  purity. 
It  was  a  trying  and  a  perilous  task,  to  unfold  deliberately, 
to  pry  searchingly  into  the  record  of  that  one  short  month 
that  had  held  all  the  bloom  and  fragrance  of  her  life's  spring 
season ;  to  linger  over  souvenirs  and  compare  sensations — 
a  painful  and  revolting  process  ;  but,  alas  !  the  revulsion  was 
not  at  memories  of  that  olden  time  ;  and  as  this  appalling 
conviction  dawned  upon  her,  her  heart  died  within  her. 

The  nurse  was  arranging  Baby  Belle  for  the  possible  re 
ception  of  her  unknown  aunt  and  uncle,  that  afternoon,  when 
Mrs.  Hammond 'came  into  the  nursery,  her  face  as  pale  and 
set  as  marble,  and  silently  lifted  the  child  from  the  girl's  lap 
to  her  own.  For  one  instant  her  cheek  was  laid  against  the 
velvet  of  the  babe's  ;  the  ringlets  of  fair  hair  mingled  with 
her  dark  locks,  before  she  set  about  completing  its  unfinish 
ed  toilette.  With  a  nicety  and  care  that  would  have  seem 
ed  overstrained,  had  other  than  the  mother's  hands  been 
busied  in  the  work,  the  stockings  and  slippers  were  fitted  on 
the  plump  feet ;  the  sunny  curls  rolled  around  the  fingers  of 
the  tiring  woman,  and  brushed  back  from  the  brow ;  the 
worked  cambric  robe  lowered  cautiously  over  the  head,  lest 
the  effect  of  the  coiffure  should  be  marred ;  the  sleeves  loop 
ed  up  with  bands  of  coral  and  gold,  a  necklace,  belonging  to 


HUSKS.  165 

he  stmie  set,  clasped  around  the  baby's  white  throat,  and 
he  was  ready  for  survey.  *  T 

"  Now,  Baby  Belle  and  mamma  will  go  down  to  meet 
>apa!" 

And  with  the  little  one  still  clinging  to  her  neck,  she  met, 
n  the  lower  hall,  her  husband  ushering  in  Lucy  and  Philip 
3enson. 


166  HUSK  8. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

BREAKFAST  was  kept  back  an  hour  next  morning  to  await 
Lucy's  tardy  appearance.  "  She  was  sadly  wearied  with 
her  journey,"  apologized  Philip,  and  Sarah  begged  that  she 
would  keep  her  room  and  have  her  meals  sent  up  to  her — 
an  hospitable  offer,  which  Mr.  Benson  negatived. 

Lucy  did  look  tired  and  unrefreshed,  and,  to  speak  more 
plainly,  very  cross.  Her  hair,  in  its  dryest  state  of  pale 
yellow,  was  combed  straight  back  above  her  temples ;  he* 
skin  was  sallow  ;  her  wrapper  carelessly  put  on,  and  its  dead 
white  unrelieved  by  even  a  bow  of  ribbon  at  the  throat.  In 
voluntarily  Lewis  glanced  from  the  uninviting  picture  to  hifl 
household  deity,  in  her  neat  breakfast-dress  of  gray  sill 
faced  with  pink,  her  glossy  hair  and  tranquil  features,  and 
said  to  himself,  in  secret  triumph,  "Which  is  now  the  beauty  ? 
None  of  your  trumpery  ornamental  articles  for  me  !" 

Philip's  eyes  were  as  keen  as  his  host's,  and  the  probabili 
ty  is  that  he  instituted  a  similar  comparison,  however  well 
his  pride  succeeded  in  concealing  the  act  and  its  result. 
Cutting  short  his  wife's  querulous  plaints  of  the  discomforts 
of  travel,  and  the  horrors  of  nervous  sleeplessness,  he  open 
ed  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Hammond  in  the  subdued,  per 
fectly-managed  tones  Sarah  remembered  so  well,  selecting 
such  topics  as  would  interest  a  business  man  and  a  citizen 
of  a  commercial  metropolis.  Lucy  pouted,  and  applied  her 
self  for  consolation  to  her  breakfast. 

With  a  strange  mingling  of  emotions,  Sarah  listened  to 


HUSKS.  16T 

the  dialogue  between  the  gentlemen.  She  was  anxious  that 
Lewis  should  acquit  himself  creditably.  Brilliant,  like 
Philip,  he  could  never  be ;  but  in  sterling  sense,  not  many 
men  were  his  superiors.  She  had  never  had  cause  to  be 
ashamed  of  him ;  for  one  so  unpretending  and  judicious 
was  not  liable  to  make  himself  ridiculous.  Whence,  then, 
the  solicitude  with  which  she  hung  upon  his  every  word  ? 
her  disappointment  when  he  did  not  equal  the  ideal  reply 
she  had  fashioned,  as  she  heard  the  words  that  called  it 
forth  ?  Several  times  she  joined  in  the  conversation,  inva 
riably  to  corroborate  Lewis's  assertions,  or  to  supply  some 
thing  he  had  omitted  to  state.  Philip  Benson  was  a  student 
of  human  nature.  Was  his  mind  sufficiently  abstracted 
from  his  domestic  annoyances  to  divine  the  motive  that 
Sarah  herself  only  perceived  afterwards  in  solitary  self- 
examination  ?  Not  love  of,  or  admiration  for  the  intrinsic 
excellence  of  the  man  whose  name  she  bore  ;  not  fear  lest 
his  modesty  should  lessen  his  merits  in  the  eyes  of  others  ; 
but  a  selfish  dread  that  his  acute  interlocutor,  discerning  in 
him  nothing  likely  to  attract  or  win  the  affection  of  a  woman 
such  as  he  knew  her  to  be,  might  guess  her  true  reason  for 
marrying  Mr.  Hammond.  The  timorous  progeny  of  one 
guilty  secret  can  only  be  numbered  by  the  minutes  during 
which  it  is  borne  in  the  bosom.  Like  the  fabled  Lacedae 
monian  boy,  Sarah  carried  the  gnawing  horror  with  a  forti 
tude  that  looked  like  cheerfulness.  Habit  cannot  lighten 
the  weight  of  a  clinging  curse ;  but  strength  and  hardness 
come  in  time,  if  the  burdened  one  is  not  early  crushed  by 
his  load. 

The  sisters  spent  most  of  the  day  in  Lucy's  room ;  the 
latter  stretched  upon  the  lounge,  as  she  declared,  "  com 
pletely  used  up."  Mrs.  Hunt  came  around  early  in  the 
forenoon,  and  into  her  sympathizing  ears  the  spoiled  child 
poured  the  story  of  her  woes  and  wrongs  ;  Sarah  sitting  by 


168  HUSKS. 

with  a  swelling,  rebellions  heart.  With  indecorous  contempt 
for  one  of  the  most  binding  laws  of  the  married  state — in 
violable  secrecy  as  to  the  faults  of  the  other  party  to  the 
momentous  compact — mother  and  daughter  compared  notes 
upon  their  husbands,  and  criticised  the  class  generally  as  the 
most  wrong-headed,  perverse,  and  dictatorial  of  all  the 
necessary  evils  of  society. 

Mrs.  Benson,  the  elder,  and  her  pleasure-loving  daughter- 
in-law  had  differed  seriously  several  months  before  the  death 
of  the  former.  Philip,  while  espousing  his  wife's  cause  to 
the  rest  of  his  family,  had,  in  private,  taken  her  to  task  for 
what  he  considered  objectionable  in  her  conduct ;  her  heads 
of  oifence  being  mainly  extravagant  love  of  gay  company, 
and  the  gallant  attentions  of  gentleman-visitors ;  neglect  of 
dress  and  all  efforts  to  please,  when  there  was  no  company 
by ;  and  a  decided  indisposition  to  share  in  the  household 
duties,  which  his  mother's  increasing  feebleness  made 
onerous  to  her. 

-  "  Ah,  mother !"  sighed  the  interesting  complainant,  raising 
herself  to  shake  up  her  pillow,  then  sinking  again  upon  it. 
"If  girls  only  realized  what  is  before  them  when  they 
marry,  few  would  be  brave  enough  to  change  their  con 
dition.  When  I  picture  to  myself  what  I  was  at  home — a 
petted  darling — never  allowed  to  inconvenience  myself 
when  it  could  possibly  be  avoided  ;  courted  in  society ;  free 
as  air  and  light-hearted  as  a  child ;  and  then  think  of  all 
that  I  have  endured  from  the  unkindness  of  strangers,  and 
the — well — the  want  of  sympathy  in  him  for  whom  I  had 
given  up  my  dear  old  home  and  friends — I  ask  myself  why 
I  did  not  remain  single  !" 

The  prudent  matchmaker  shook  her  head.  "  Marriage  is 
a  lottery,  they  say,  my  dear ;  but  I  am  very  sure  that  single 
life  is  a  blank.  You  had  no  fortune,  and  in  the  event  of 
your  father's  death  would  have  been  almost  destitute.  I  am 


HUSKS.  169 

sorry  that  your  father  did  not  insist  upon  Mr.  Benson's 
giving  you  your  own  establishment  at  once.  I  hope,  now 
the  old  lady  is  out  of  the  way,  you  will  have  things  more 
according  to  your  notions." 

"Don't  you  believe  that!  As  if  there  were  not  two 
sisters-in-law,  living  but  four  miles  off,  and  driving  over 
every  other  day  to  '  see  how  pa  is.'  That  mtcins,  to  see 
whether  Lucy  is  letting  things  go  to  wreck  and  ruin.  I 
understand  their  spiteful  ways !  Philip  shuts  his  ears  when 
I  talk  about  them ;  but  I  am  determined  that  I  will  not  bear 
much  more  meddling !" 

Decidedly,  Lucy  Benson  married  was  a  woeful  declension 
from  the  seraphic  spinster  depicted  in  our  earlier  chapters ; 
but,  as  in  time  past,  so  in  time  present  and  to  come,  the 
sparkling  sugar,  whose  integrity  and  sweetness  appeared 
indestructible,  while  it  was  kept  dry  and  cool,  if  dampened, 
undergoes  an  acetous  fermentation,  and  the  delicate  sweet 
meat,  exposed  to  the  air  at  a  high  temperature,  becomes 
speedily  a  frothing  mass,  evolving  pungent  gases.  The 
pretty  doll  who  anticipates,  in  the  connubial  state,  one  long 
fete-d&y  of  adoration  received,  and  benign  condescension 
dispensed,  is  as  certain  to  awake  from  this  dream  as  from 
any  other,  and  upon  the  temper  in  which  she  sustains  the 
disenchantment,  depends  a  vast  proportion  of  her  future 
welfare  and  peace. 

Lucy's  behavior  to  her  babe  was  a  mixture  of  childish 
fondling  and  neglect.  Fortunately,  the  little  "Hunt's" 
special  attendant  was  an  elderly  woman,  long  established  as 
"Maumer"  in  the  Benson  family,  and  her  devotion  to  her 
charge  prevented  any  present  evil  effects  from  his  mother's 
incompetence  or  carelessness.  Philip's  pride  in,  and  lovo 
for  his  boy  were  extreme.  When  he  came  in  that  evening, 
Sarah  chanced  to  be  in  the  nursery  adjoining  her  chamber, 
watching  and  inciting  the  two  babies  to,  a.  game  of  romps. 
8 


170  HUSKS. 

She  held  one  on  each  knee,  the  nurses  standing  by  in 
amused  gratification. 

"  That  is  surely  my  little  man's  voice !"  said  Philip,  as  he 
and  Lewis  came  up  the  stairs. 

"  Let  me  see !" — and  Mr.  Hammond  peeped  into  the  play 
room.  "  Walk  in !"  he  continued,  throwing  the  door  wide 
open.  "  Isn't  there  a  pair  of  them  ?" 

"  And  a  nurse  worthy  of  the  twain !"  replied  Philip.  He 
stooped  to  the  invitation  of  the  lifted  arms,  fluttering,  as  if 
the  owner  would  fly  to  his  embrace.  "  What  do  you  say 
of  him,  aunty  ?  Is  he  not  a  passable  boy  ?" 

"  More  than  passable  !  he  is  a  noble-looking  fellow.  He 
resembles  you,  I  think,"  said  Sarah,  quietly. 

"  Do  you  hear  that,  Hammond  ?  Your  wife  pronounces 
me  c  more  than  passable — a  noble-looking  fellow !'  So  much 
for  an  adroit  hint.  Is  she  given  to  flattery  ?" 

"  Not  she !"  returned  Lewis,  laughing.  "  She  never  said 
as  much  as  that  for  my  looks  in  all  her  life.  I  have  one  con 
solation,  however ;  the  less  she  says  the  more  she  means  !" 
He  went  into  the  dressing-room,  and  Philip,  still  holding  the 
child,  seated  himself  by  Sarah. 

"  How  odd,  yet  how  familiar  it  seems,  to  be  with  you 
once  more,  my  good  sister !  What  a  succession  of  mis 
chances  has  made  us  virtual  strangers  for  many  months 
past !  I  had  almost  despaired  of  ever  holding  friendly  con 
verse  with  you  again.  I  wonder  if  your  recollections 
of  our  visit  to  Aunt  Sarah  are  as  vivid  as  mine.  Do 
you  remember  that  last  sad,  yet  dear  day  on  the  Deal 
Beach?"  . 

Baby  Belle  was  standing  in  her  mother's  lap,  her  soft, 
warm  arms  about  her  neck ;  and  around  the  frail,  sinking 
human  heart  invisible  arms,  as  warm  and  close,  were  up 
holding  and  strengthening  it  in  the  moment  of  mortal 
weakness. 


HUSKS.  171 

"  Very  distinctly.  Many  changes  have  come  to  us  both 
since  then." 

"  To  me  very  many !  I  have  grown  older  in  heart  than 
in  years."  Then,  evidently  fearing  that  she  might  other 
wise  interpret  his  meaning,  he  subjoined  :  "  We  have  had  a 
heavy  bereavement  in  our  household,  you  know.  Your 
changes  have  all  been  happy  ones.  The  enthusiastic,  rest 
less  girl  has  ripened  into  the  more  sedate,  yet  more  blessed 
wife  and  mother." 

Press  your  sweet  mouth  to  the  convulsed  lips,  Baby 
Belle !  veil  with  your  silky  curls  the  tell-tale  features, 
whose  agitation  would  bewilder,  if  not  betray !  Philip  was 
stroking  the  head  of  his  boy,  and  did  not  see  the  uneasiness 
of  his  companion. 

"  Have  you  heard  of  Uncle  Nathan's  death  ?"  she  asked, 
clearing  her  throat. 

He  looked  surprised  at  the  inquiry.  "  Yes !  Aunt  Sarah 
wrote  immediately  to  my  father." 

"  Ah !  I  had  forgotten  that  they  were  brothers.  My 
memory  is  treacherous.  Excuse  me !  I  am  wanted  in  the 
dining-room !" 

Lewis  met  her  just  outside  the  door,  and  stopped  her  to 
bestow  the  evening  kiss  he  had  not  cared  to  offer  in  Philip's 
presence. 

"  Why,  you  are  as  rosy  as  a  peony !"  he  said,  jestingly. 
"  Has  Benson  been  paying  you  compliments,  in  return  for 
yours  to  him  ?  I  must  look  after  you  two,  if  you  carry  on 
at  this  rate." 

With  a  look  he  had  reason  subsequently  to  recall,  but 
which  only  pleased  him  at  the  time,  she  raised  his  hand  to 
her  lips — a  look  of  humility,  gratitude,  and  appeal,  such  as 
one  might  cast  upon  a  slighted  benefactor — and  vanished. 

A  merry  family  party  gathered  around  the  Hammond's 
generous  table,  that  afternoon.  All  the  Hunts  were  there — 


172  HUSKS. 

from  the  father  down  to  Jeannie,  who  was  fast  shooting  up 
into  a  tall  girl,  somewhat  pert  in  manner,  but  lovable  despite 
this,  at  times,  unpleasant  foible. 

"  Sister  Lucy,"  she  said,  after  an  interval  of  silence, 
"  Ellen  West  said,  at  school,  to-day,  that  you  were  a  great 
belle  when  you  were  a  young  lady ;  were  you  ?" 

"  You  must  not  ask  me,  Jeannie !"  The  old  smile  of 
conscious  beauty  stole  into  Lucy's  cheeks. 

"  Was  she,  sister?"  Jeannie  referred  the  case  to  Sarah. 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  she  was  very  beautiful,"  replied  the  latter, 
simply. 

"  She  isn't  now — not  so  very  handsome,  I  mean — no  hand 
somer /than  you  are,  sister !" 

"  Jeannie !  you  forget  yourself!"  interposed  Mrs.  Hunt. 

"  Why,  mamma,  I  did  not  intend  to  be  rude !  Only  I 
thought  that  belles  were  always  the  prettiest  ladies  that 
could  be  found  anywhere." 

"  By  no  means !"  corrected  Lewis,  willing  to  help  his 
wife's  pet  out  of  a  scrape.  "  There  are  many  descriptions 
of  belles,  Jeannie :  handsome,  rich,  fast,  and  intellectual." 

u  And  as  papa  was  not  rich,  I  suppose  you  were  either 
fast  or  intellectual,  sister  Lucy !"  persisted  the  child. 

"  I  thought  her  pretty  fast  when  I  tried  to  catch  her," 
said  Philip. — "  Mrs.  Hunt,  Mrs.  Hammond,  Mrs.  Benson, 
have  you  ladies  decided  in  the  course  of  to-day's  congress 
what  watering-place  is  to  be  made  the  fashion  by  our 
clique  next  month?" 

Mrs.  Hunt  replied  that  they  inclined  to  Newport ;  princi 
pally  on  account  of  Lucy  and  the  children,  who  would  all 
be  benefited  by  the  bathing. 

Lucy  was  sure  that  she  should  tire  of  Saratoga  or  the 
Catskills  in  a  week,  whereas  she  adored  the  ocean. 

"  What  says  Madame  Discretion  ?"  said  Lewis,  merrily, 
to  his  wife. 


HUSKS.  1 73 

"  Except  that  it  would  break  up  the  family  party,  I  had 
rather  stay  at  home  as  long  as  it  is  prudent  to  keep  the 
baby  in  town ;  then,  if  you  could  go  with  us,  spend  a  month 
at  some  mountain  farm-house  or  sea-side  cottage,"  she 
answered. 

"Hear!  hear !"  commanded  Philip.  "  Behold  a  modern 
wedded  dame  who  prefers  seclusion  with  her  liege  lord  to 
gayety  without  him!  The  age  of  miracles  is  returning  !" 

"  Is  the  case,  then,  so  anomalous  ?"  retorted  Sarah,  the  red 
spot  in  her  cheek  alone  testifying  to  her  embarrassment. 
"  Are  your  Southern  matrons  all  public  characters  ?" 

"  I  can  answer  that !"  said  Lucy.  "  They  are  slaves  ! 
housekeeping  machines — nothing  better  !" 

"  How  many  more  weak  places  are  there  in  this  crust  of 
family  chit-chat,  I  should  like  to  be  informed !"  thought  the 
annoyed  and  uninitiated  Hammond.  "  Here  goes  for  the 
spot  where  there  is  no  danger  of  anybody's  breaking  in  I" 
He  spoke  aloud.  "  A  tempting  proposal  was  made  to  me 
this  morning.  It  is  considered  advisable  for  one  of  our  firm 
to  go  abroad  for  a  couple  of  months,  perhaps  longer,  to 
divide  his  time  among  the  principal  manufacturing  districts 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  France.  Expenses  paid  by  the 
firm,  and  the  term  of  absence  indefinitely  prolonged,  if  the 
traveller  wishes  it.  Mr.  Marlow  is  tired  of  crossing  the 
ocean,  and  presses  me  to  accept  the  mission." 

"  What  did  you  tell  him  ?" 

It  was  Sarah  who  spoke  in  a  startled  voice  that  drew 
general  notice  to  her  alarmed  face.  Her  concern  was  a  de 
licious  tribute  to  her  husband's  self-love,  if  he  possessed 
such  a  quality.  At  least  he  loved  Tier  well  enough  to  be 
pleased  at  her  manifest  reluctance  to  have  him  leave  her. 

"  I  told  him  that  I  must  ask'my  wife,"  said  he  in  a  meek 
tone,  belied  by  the  humorous  twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  loving 
half-smile  about  his  mouth.  "  See  what  it  is  to  be  one  under 


174  HUSKS. 

authority,  Benson !  A  man  dare  not  conclude  an  ordinary 
business  transaction  without  the  approval  of  the  powers 
that  be." 

When  Sarah  accompanied  her  sister  to  her  chamber  that 
night,  the  passee  belle  put  a  direct  question. 

"  Tell  me,  Sarah,  are  you  as  much  in  love  with  Mr.  Ham 
mond  as  you  seem  to  be,  or  is  it  all  put  on  for  the  benefit  of 
outsiders  ?" 

"  I  am  not  apt  to  do  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  mere  show  ; 
nor  do  I  care  for  the  opinion  of  '  outsiders,'  as  you  call 
them,"  rejoined  Sarah,  amazed  at  the  cool  audacity  of  the 
inquiry,  and  disposed  to  resent  Lucy's  confident  expectation 
that  she  would  avow  the  cheat,  if  such  there  were,  in  her 
deportment. 

"  You  used  to  be  shockingly  independent,  I  know.  What 
a  ridiculously  honest  little  puss  you  were !  How  you  de 
spised  all  our  pretty  arts  and  necessary  affectations  !  How 
you  hated  our  economical  mother's  second-best  furniture  and 
dinners !  I  don't  believe  Victoria  West  has  ever  forgiven 
you  for  the  way  in  which  you  used  to  take  to  pieces  what 
you  styled  our  '  surface  talk  and  surface  life  !'  I  thought, 
however,  that  you  had  discovered  by  this  time,  that  one 
cannot  live  in  the  world  without  deceiving  herself  or  other 
people  ;  I  prefer  making  fools  to  being  one.  Heigh-ho  !  this 
life  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  business  at  the  best.  What  a 
heavenly  collar  that  is  of  yours  !  One  thing  I  do  wish,  and 
that  is — that  my  husband  were  half  as  fond  of  me,  or  as 
good  to  me,  as  Lewis  is  to  you !" 


HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

LEWIS  HAMMOND  had  thrown  the  whole  weight  of  his  in 
fluence  in  the  family  conclave,  into  the  Newport  scale ;  and 
to  this  popular  resort  Sarah  went,  in  July,  in  company  with 
the  Bensons,  her  mother  and  Jeannie,  who  was  made  one  of 
the  party  at  Lewis's  request  and  expense.  The  generous 
fellow  acted  in  conformity  with  conscience  and  judgment  in 
this  temporary  exile  of  his  treasures  ;  and,  consistent  in  his 
purpose  of  rendering  it  a  pleasure  excursion  to  his  wife,  he 
made  very  light  of  his  prospects  of  lonely  widowerhood,  rep 
resenting,  instead,  the  benefit  she  and  the  babe  would  draw 
from  the  sea-breezes,  and  his  enhanced  enjoyment  of  his 
weekly  visits,  because  they  were  so  far  apart.  He  went  with 
them  to  the  shore,  at  their  general  flitting,  and  spent  two 
days  ;  saw  for  himself  that  those  whose  comfort  was  nearest 
his  heart  were  properly  accommodated ;  privately  feed 
chambermaid  and  waiter,  with  hints  of  future  emolument 
to  accrue  to  them  from  special  regard  to  the  wants  of 
Mrs.  Hammond  and  her  infant,  and  returned  to  town  with 
the  unenviable  consciousness  of  having  left  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  himself  behind  him. 

A  brisk  rush  of  business  beguiled  him  of  the  aching,  hol 
low  void  for  a  few  hours  after  he  got  back.  Not  even  Baby 
Belle's  accents  could  be  heard  amid  that  roar  and  whir.  But 
at  luncheon-time,  while  waiting  for  his  order  to  be  filled  at  a 
restaurant,  the  dreary,  solitary  void  overtook  him — a  fit  of 
unmistakable  home-sickness,  that  yet  caused  him  to  recoil  at 


170  HUSKS. 

the  idea  of  entering  the  deserted  house  up-town,  when  even 
ing  ^should  oblige  him  to  seek  a  lodging.  How  were  Sarah 
and  baby  getting  along  without  him  ?  He  was  afraid  that 
Lucy  was  not,  in  all  respects,  as  congenial  a  companion  as 
he  could  have  wished  his  wife  to  have,  and  that  Mrs.  Hunt's 
undisguised  worldliness,  her  fooh'sh  love  of  fashion  and  dis 
play,  would  often  annoy  arid  mortify  her  sensible  and  right- 
judging  daughter.  Benson  was  capital  company,  though — 
a  gentleman  every  inch  of  him  !  and  very  friendly  to  Sarah. 
But  for  her  reserved  manners  he  would  act  the  part  of  a 
real  brother  to  her ;  in  any  case,  he  would  be  kind,  and  see 
that  she  wanted  for  nothing. 

Then — shot  into  his  head  by  some  unseen  and  unaccount 
able  machinery — there  darted  across  his  mind  a  fragment  of 
a  conversation  he  had  overheard,  at  entering  his  parlor,  the 
day  before  the  Bensons  left.  Philip  and  Lucy  were  standing 
before  a  miniature  painting  of  Sarah  and  her  child,  completed 
and  brought  home  a  short  time  previous.  Although  seem 
ingly  intent  upon  the  picture,  their  conversation  must  have 
strayed  far  from  the  starting-point,  for  the  first  sentence  that 
reached  the  unintentional  listener  was  a  tart,  scornful  speech 
from  Lucy,  that  could  by  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  be 
made  to  apply  to  her  sister. 

"  If  you  admire  her  so  much,  why  did  you  not  marry  her 
when  you  had  the  opportunity  ?  She  was  willing  enough !" 

"  Take  care  you  do  not  make  me  regret  that  I  did  not  do 
so !"  was  Philip's  stern  rejoinder  as  he  turned  from  her. 

The  change  of  position  showed  him  that  Lewis  was  pres 
ent,  and  for  a  second  his  inimitable  self-possession  wavered. 
Recovering  himself,  he  reverted  to  the  picture,  and  called 
upon  his  host  to  decide  some  disputed  point  in  its  artistic  ex 
ecution  which  he  and  Lucy  were  discussing. 

"  Poor  fellow!  he  has  learned  that  all  is  not  gold  that  glit 
ters  !"  mused  Lewis  to  the  newspaper  he  was  pretending  to 


HUSKS.  177 

read.  "  Lucy  had  a  high  reputation  for  amiability  before 
she  was  Mrs.  Benson.  There  is  no  touchstone  like  the  wed 
ding-ring  to  bring  out  one's  true  qualities." 

He  sat  with  his  back  to  the  entrance  of  the  saloon,  and 
the  table  directly  behind  him  was  now  taken  possession  of 
by  three  or  four  new  arrivals — all  gentlemen,  and  apparently 
on  familiar  terms  with  one  another.  They  called  for  a  boun 
tiful  lunch,  including  wine,  and  plunged  into  a  lively,  rather 
noisy  talk.  Lewis  closed  his  ears,  and  applied  himself  in 
earnest  to  his  paper.  He  started  presently  at  a  word  he 
could  have  declared  was  his  name.  Restraining  the  impulse 
to  look  around  and  see  who  of  the  group  was  known  to  him, 
he  yet  could  not  help  trying  to  determine  this  point  by 
their  voices.  One,  a  thin  falsetto,  he  fancied  belonged  to 
George  Bond,  who  was  no  more  of  a  favorite  with  him  than 
was  his  better  half  with  Sarah.  Lewis  regarded  him  as  a 
conceited  rattle-pate,  whose  sole  talent  lay  in  the  art  of 
making  money — whose  glory  was  his  purse.  "  Why  should 
he  be  talking  about  me  here  ?  Nonsense ;  I  was  mistaken !" 
and  another  page  of  the  newspaper  was  turned. 

"  When  I  leave  my  wife  at  Newport,  or  anywhere  else, 
in  the  particular  and  brotherly  care  of  one  of  her  former 
flames,  publish  me  as  a  crazy  fool !"  said  the  wiry  voice 
again,  almost  in  the  reader's  ear. 

"  He  doesn't  know  old  stories  as  well  as  you  do,  perhaps," 
remarked  some  one. 

"  I  should  think  not !  When  my  wife  pulls  the  wool  over 
my  eyes  in  that  style,  horsewhip  me  around  town,  and  I 
won't  cry  '  Quarter !'  Sister's  husband  or  not,  I'll  be 
hanged  if  I  would  have  him  in  my  house  for  two  weeks,  and 
he  is  such  a  good-looking  dog,  too  !" 

He  stopped,  as  if  his  neighbor  had  jogged  him,  as  Lewis 
looked  over  his  shoulder  in  the  direction  of  the  gossip.  A 
dead  and  awkward  silence  ensued,  ended  at  last  by  the 


178  HUSKS. 

pertinent  observation  that  the  "  waiter  was  a  long  time 
bringing  their  lunch." 

In  a  maze  of  angry  doubt  and  incredulity  as  to  the  evi 
dence  of  his  senses  and  suspicions,  Lewis  finished  his  meal, 
and  stalked  out  past  the  subdued  and  now  voracious  quar 
tette,  favoring  them  with  a  searching  look  as  he  went  by, 
which  they  sustained  with  great  meekness.  All  the  after 
noon  a  heavy  load  lay  upon  his  heart — an  indefinable  dread 
he  dared  not  analyze ;  a  forboding  he  would  not  face,  yet 
could  not  dismiss. 

"  You  are  blue,  Lewis !"  said  Mr.  Marlow,  kindly,  as  they 
started  up  town  together.  "  This  is  the  worst  of  having  a 
wife  and  children ;  you  miss  them  so  terribly  when  they  are 
away.  But  you  will  get  used  to  it.  Make  up  your  mind  at 
the  eleventh  hour  to  cross  the  water,  and  stay  abroad  three 
months.  You  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  easy  your  mind 
will  become  after  a  couple  of  weeks." 

a  I  am  satisfied,  sir,  without  making  personal  trial  of  the 
matter,  that  men  become  inured  to  misery,  which  seemed 
in  the  beginning  to  be  insupportable." 

Mr.  Marlow  laughed,  and  they  separated. 

Lewis  sighed  as  he  looked  up  at  the  blinds  of  his  house, 
shut  fast  and  grim,  and  still  more  deeply  as  he  admitted 
himself  to  the  front  hall,  that  echoed  dismally  the  sound  of 
the  closing  door.  His  next  movement  was  to  walk  into  the 
parlor,  throw  open  -a  shutter,  and  let  in  the  evening  light 
upon  the  portraits  of  the  dear  absent  ones.  There  he  stood, 
scanning  their  faces — eyes  and  soul  full  of  love  and  long 
ing — until  the  mellow  glow  passed  away  and  left  them  in 
darkness. 

The  comfortless  evening  repast  was  over,  and  he  betook 
himself  to  the  library,  Sarah's  favorite  room,  as  it  was  also 
his.  Her  low  easy-chair  stood  in  its  usual  place  opposite 
his  at  the  centre-table,  but  her  work-basket  was  missing ; 


HUSKS.  179 

likewise  the  book,  with  its  silver  marker,  that  he  was  woDt 
to  see  lying  side  by  side  with  some  volume  he  had  selected 
for  his  own  reading.  But  one  lay  there  now,  and  there  was 
an  odd  choking  in  his  throat  as  he  read  the  title  on  the 
back.  He  had  expressed  a  wish  for  it  in  Sarah's  hearing 
some  days  before,  and  her  delicate  forethought  had  left  it 
here  as  a  solace  and  keepsake,  one  that  should,  while  re 
minding  him  of  her,  yet  charm  away  sad  feelings  in  her 
absence.  Even  in  the  exterior  of  the  gift,  she  had  been  re 
gardful  of  his  taste.  The  binding  was  solid  and  rich ;  no 
gaudy  coloring  or  tawdry  gilt ;  the  thick  smooth  paper  and 
clear  type  were  a  luxury  to  touch  and  sight.  Lewis  was 
no  sentimentalist,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term,  yet 
he  kissed  the  name  his  wife  had  traced  upon  the  fly-leaf  ere 
he  sat  down  to  employ  the  evening  as  she  by  her  gift  tacitly 
requested  him  to  do.  But  it  was  a  useless  attempt.  The 
book  was  not  in  fault,  and  he  -should  have  read  it  intently, 
if  only  because  she  had  bestowed  it ;  still,  the  hand  that 
held  it  sank  lower  and  lower,  until  it  rested  upon  his  knee, 
and  the  reader  was  the  thinker  instead. 

The  most  prosaic  of  human  beings  have  their  seasons  of 
reverie — pleasing  or  mournful,  which  are,  unknown  often 
to  themselves,  the  poetry  of  their  lives.  Such  was  the 
drama  Lewis  Hammond  was  now  rehearsing  in  his  retro 
spective  dreams. 

The  wan  and  weary  mother,  whom  he  remembered  as 
always  clothed  in  widow's  weeds,  and  toiling  in  painful 
drudgery  to  maintain  herself  and  her  only  boy ;  who  had 
smiled  and  wept,  rendered  thanksgivings  and  uttered  prayers 
for  strength,  alternately,  as  she  heard  Mr.  Marlow's  propo 
sal  to  protect  and  help  the  lad  through  the  world  that  had 
borne  so  hardly  upon  her ;  who  had  strained  him  to  her 
bosom,  and  shed  fast,  hot  tears  of  speechless  anguish  at 
their  parting— a  farewell  that  was  never  to  be  forgotten  in 


180  HUSKS. 

any  meeting  on  this  side  of  eternity ;  this  was  the  vision, 
hers  the  palladium  of  love,  that  had  nerved  him  for  the  close 
wrestle  with  fortune,  guarded  him  amid  the  burning  plough 
shares  of  temptation,  carried  him  unscathed  past  the  hun 
dred  mouths  of  hell,  that  gape  upon  the  innocent  and  un 
wary  in  all  large  cities.  Cold  and  unsusceptible  as  he  was 
deemed  in  society,  he  kept  unpolluted  in  his  breast  a  fresh 
living  stream  of  genuine  romantic  feeling,  such  as  we  are 
apt  to  think  went  out  of  fashion — aye,  and  out  of  being — 
with  the  belted  knights  of  yore;  wealth  he  had  vowed 
never  to  squander,  never  reveal,  until  he  should  pour  it, 
without  one  thought  of  self-reserve,  upon  his  wife!  He 
never  hinted  this  to  a  living  creature  before  the  moment 
came  for  revealing  it  to  the  object  of  his  choice.  He  was  a 
"predestined  old  bachelor !",  an  "infidel  to  love  and  the 
sex,"  said  and  believed  the  gay  and  frivolous,  and  he  let 
them  talk.  His  ideal  woman,  his  mother's  representative 
and  successor — the  beauty  and  crown  of  his  existence — was 
too  sacred  for  the  gaze  and  comment  of  indifferent  world 
lings.  For  her  he  labored  and  studied  and  lived ;  confident 
in  a  fatalistic  belief  that,  at  the  right  moment,  the  dream 
would  become  a  reality — the  phantasm  leave  her  cloudy 
height  for  his  arms. 

Love  so  beautiful  and  intense  as  this,  like  snow  in  its 
purity,  like  fire  in  its  fervor,  cannot  be  won  to  full  and  elo 
quent  utterance  but  by  answering  love — a  sentiment  identi 
cal  in  kind,  if  not  equal  in  degree ;  and  Sarah  Hammond's 
estimate  of  her  husband's  affection  was,  in  consequence  of 
this  want  in  herself,  cruelly  unjust  in  its  coldness  and  pov 
erty.  His  patience  with  her  transient  fits  of  gloom  or  way 
wardness  in  the  early  months  of  their  married  life;  his 
noble  forgetfulness  of  her  faults,  and  grateful  acknowledg 
ment  of  her  most  trifling  effort  to  please  him ;  his  unceasing 
care ;  his  lavish  bounty — all  these  she  attributed  too  much 


HUSKS.  181 

to  natural  amiability  and  conscientious  views  of  duty ;  too 
little  to  his  warm  regard  for  her  personally.  In  this  per 
suasion  she  had  copied  his  conduct  in  externals  so  far  as  she 
could;  and  applauding  observers  adjudged  the  mock  gem 
to  be  a  fair  and  equitable  equivalent  for  the  rare  pearl  she 
had  received. 

Lest  this  digression,  into  which  I  have  been  inadvertently 
betrayed,  should  mislead  any  with  the  idea  that  I  have 
some  design  of  dignifying  into  a  hero  this  respectable,  but 
very  commonplace  personage,  return  we  to  him  as  he  hears 
eleven  o'clock  rung  out  by  the  monitor  on  the  mantel,  and 
says  to  himself,  "  Baby  Belle  has  been  asleep  these  three 
hours,  and  mamma,  caring  nothing  for  beaux  and  ball-room, 
is  preparing  to  follow  her." 

Beaux  and  ball-room !  Pshaw !  why  should  the  nonsensi 
cal  talk  of  that  jacknapes,  George  Bond,  come  to  his  mind 
just  then  ?  The  whole  tenor  of  the  remarks  that  succeeded 
the  name  he  imagined  was  his  disproved  that  imagination. 
But  icho  had  left  his  wife  at  Newport  in  the  care  of  a 
"good-looking"  brother-in-law?  io7iohad  been  domesticated 
in  the  family  of  the  deluded  husband  for  a  fortnight  ? 

Pshaw  again  !  What  concern  had  he  with  their  scandal 
ous,  doubtless  slanderous  tattle  ? 

"  Why  did  you  not  marry  her  when  you  had  the  oppor 
tunity  ?  She  was  willing  enough  !" 

Could  Lucy  have  spoken  thus  of  her  sister  ?  Sarah  was 
barely  acquainted  with  Philip  Benson  when  Lucy  wedded 
him,  having  met  him  but  once  prior  to  the  wedding-day  at 
the  house  of  her  aunt  in  the  country,  from  which  place  his 
own  letter,  penned  by  her  father's  sick-bed,  recalled  her. 
How  far  from  his  thoughts  then  was  the  rapid  train  of 
consequences  that  followed  upon  this  preliminary  act  of 
their  intercourse ! 

Did  that  scoundrel  Bond  say  "  Hammond  ?"     It  was  not 


182  HUSKS. 

a  common  name,  and  came  quite  distinctly  to  his  ears  in  the 
high,  unpleasant  key  he  so  disliked.     A  flush  of  honest 
shame  arose  to  his  forehead  at  this  uncontrollable  straying 
of  his  ideas  to  a  topic  so  disagreeable,  and  so  often  rejected  | 
by  his  mind. 

"  As  if— even  had  I  been  the  person  insulted  by  his  pity — 
I  would  believe  one  syllable  he  said  of  a  woman  as  far  above 
him  in  virtue  and  intellect,  in  every  thing  good  and  lovable, 
as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth !  I  would  despise  my 
self  as  much  as  I  do  him,  if  I  could  lend  my  ear  for  an  in 
stant  to  so  degrading  a  whisper !  I  wish  I  had  faced  him 
and  demanded  the  whole  tale;  yet  no!  that  would  have 
been  rash  and  absurd.  Better  as  it  is !  By  to-morrow,  I 
shall  laugh  at  my  ridiculous  fancies  !" 

"  Scratch !  scratch !  scratch !"  The  house  was  so  still  in 
the  approaching  midnight  that  the  slight  noise  caused  him 
a  shock  and  quiver  in  the  excited  state  of  his  nerves.  The 
interruption  was  something  between  a  scrape  and  a  rap, 
three  times  repeated,  and  proceeding,  apparently,  from  the 
bookcase  at  his  right.  "What  could  it  be  ?  He  had  never 
seen  or  heard  of  a  mouse  on  the  premises,  nor  did  the  sound 
much  resemble  the  nibbling  of  that  animal.  Ashamed  of 
the  momentary  thrill  he  had  experienced,  he  remained  still 
and  collected,  awaiting  its  repetition. 

"  Scratch  !  scratch !  rap !"  It  was  in  the  bookcase — in 
the  lower  part  where  were  drawers  shut  in  by  solid  doors. 
These  he  had  never  explored,  but  knew  that  his  wife  kept 
pamphlets  and  papers  in  them.  He  opened  the  outer  doors 
cautiously,  and  listened  again,  until  assured  by  the  scratch 
ing  that  his  search  was  in  the  right  direction.  There 
were  three  drawers,  two  deep,  the  third  and  upper  shal 
low.  This  he  drew  out  and  examined.  It  contained  wri 
ting-paper  and  envelopes,  all  in  good  order.  ISTor  was  there 
any  sign  of  the  intruder  amongst  the  loose  music  and  peri- 


HUSKS.  183 

odicals  in  the  second.  The  lower  one  was  locked — no 
doubt  accidentally,  for  he  had  never  seen  Sarah  lock  up 
any  thing  except  jewels  and  money.  Their  servants  were 
honest,  and  she  had  no  cause  to  fear  investigation  on  his  part. 

Feeling,  rather  than  arguing  thus,  he  removed  the  drawer 
above,  leaving  exposed  the  locked  one,  and  thrust  his  hand 
down  into  it.  It  encountered  the  polished  surface  of  a 
small  box  or  case,  which  he  was  in  the  act  of  drawing 
through  the  aperture  left  by  the  second  drawer,  when  some 
thing  dark  and  swift  ran  over  his  hand  and  up  his  sleeve. 
With  a  violent  start,  he  dashed  the  casket  to  the  floor,  and 
another  energetic  fling  of  his  arm  dislodged  the  mouse.  His 
first  care  was  to  pursue  and  kill  it ;  his  next  to  examine  into 
the  damage  it  had  indirectly  produced.  The  box — ebony, 
lined  with  sandal-wood — had  fallen  with  such  force  as  to 
loosen  the  spring,  and  lay  on  its  side  wide  open ;  its  treas 
ures  strewed  over  the  carpet.  They  were  neither  numer 
ous,  nor  in  themselves  valuable.  A  bouquet  of  dried  flowers, 
enveloped  in  silver  paper,  lay  nearest  Lewis's  hand,  as  he 
knelt  to  pick  up  the  scattered  articles.  The  paper  was  tied 
about  the  stalks  of  the  flowers  with  black  ribbon,  and  to  this 
was  attached  a  card  :  "  Will  Miss  Sarah  accept  this  trifling 
token  of  regard  from  one  who  is  her  stanch  friend,  and 
hopes,  in  time,  to  have  a  nearer  claim  upon  her  esteem  ?" 

The  hand  was  familiar  to  the  reader  as  Philip  Benson's. 
Why  should  Sarah  preserve  this,  while  the  many  floral  to 
kens  of  his  love  which  she  had  received  were  flung  away 
when  withered  like  worthless  weeds  ?  The  pang  of  jeal 
ousy  was  new — sharp  as  the  death-wrench  to  the  heart 
strings,  cruel  as  the  grave !  The  card  was  without  date,  or 
he  would  have  read,  with  a  different  apprehension  of  its 
meaning,  the  harmless  clause — "An d  hopes  in  time  to  have 
a  nearer  claim  upon  her  esteem.'1''  There  was  a  time,  then, 
when,  as  Lucy  had  taunted  her  husband,  he  might  have 


184  HUSKS. 

married  her  sister !  when  Sarah  loved  him,  and  had  reason 
to  think  herself  beloved  in  return  !  What  was  this  sable 
badge  but  the  insignia  of  a  bereaved  heart,  that  mourned 
still  in  secret  the  faithlessness  of  her  early  love,  or  the  ad 
verse  fate  that  had  sundered  him  from  her,  and  given  him 
to  another  ? 

Crushing  the  frail,  dead  stems  in  his  hand,  he  threw  them 
back  into  the  box,  and  took  up  a  bit  of  dark  gray  wood, 
rough  on  one  side — smoothed  on  the  other  into  a  rude  tab 
let.  "  Philip  Benson,  Deal  Beach,  July  27ZA,  1 856.  Pensez 
d  moi  /"  But  ten  days  before  he  met  her  at  the  wharf  in 
New  York  to  take  her  to  her  sick  father  !  but  three  months 
before  she  plighted  her  troth  to  him,  promised  to  wed  him, 
while  in  spirit  she  was  still  weeping  tears  of  blood  over  the 
inconstant !  for  he  did  not  forget  that  Philip's  engagement 
to  Lucy  preceded  his  own  to  Sarah  by  eight  or  nine  weeks. 
There  were  other  relics  in  the  box ;  a  half-worn  glove, 
retaining  the  shape  of  the  manly  hand  it  had  inclosed — 
which,  he  learned  afterwards,  Philip  had  left  in  his  chamber 
at  the  farm-house  when  he  departed  to  seek  gayer  scenes ; 
a  white  shell,  upon  whose  rosy  lining  were  scratched  with 
the  point  of  a  knife  the  ominous  initials,  "  P.  B.,"  and  be 
neath  them  "  S.  B.  H.,"  a  faded  rose-bud,  and  several  printed 
slips,  cut  from  the  columns  of  newspapers.  He  unfolded 
but  two  of  these. 

One  was  an  extract  from  Tennyson's  "Maud" — the  invi 
tation  to  the  garden.  Breathlessly,  by  reason  of  the  terrible 
stricture  tightening  around  his  heart,  Lewis  ran  his  eyes 
over  the  charming  whimsical  morceau.  They  rested  upon 
and  reviewed  the  last  verse : 

"  She  is  coming — my  own,  my  sweet  I 

Were  it  ever  so  airy  a  tread, 
My  heart  would  hear  her  and  beat ; 
Were  it  earth  in  an  earthy  bed, 


HUSKS.  185 

"My  dust  would  hear  her  and  beat; 

Had  I  laid  for  a  century  dead, 
"Would  start  and  tremble  under  her  feet, 
And  blossom  in  purple  and  red." 

He  did  not  discriminate  now  between  printed  and  writ 
ten  verses.  These  were  love  stanzas  sent  by  another 
man  to  his  wife,  received  and  cherished  by  her,  hidden 
away  with  a  care  that,  in  itself,  bordered  on  criminality,  for 
was  not  its  object  the  deception  of  the  injured  husband  ? 
The  most  passionate  autograph  love-letter  could  hardly  have 
stabbed  him  more  keenly. 

The  other  was  Mrs.  Browning's  exquisite  "  Portrait." 
And  here  the  reader  can  have  an  explanation  the  tortured 
man  could  not  obtain.  With  the  acumen  for  which  Cupid's 
votaries  are  proverbial,  Philip  Benson,  then  at  the  "  summer 
heat"  degree  of  his  flame  for  the  Saratoga  belle,  had  recog 
nized  in  this  poem  the  most  correct  and  beautiful  description 
of  his  lady-love.  Curiosity  to  see  if  the  resemblance  were 
apparent  to  other  eyes,  and  a  desire  for  sympathy  tempted 
him  to  forward  it  to  Sarah.  She  must  perceive  the  likeness 
to  her  divine  sister,  and  surmise  the  sentiment  that  had  in 
duced  him  to  send  it.  A  little  alteration  in  the  opening 
stanza  was  requisite  to  make  it  a  "  perfect  fit."  Thus  it 
was  when  the  change  was  made : — 

I  will  paint  her  aa  I  see  her : 

times  have  the  lilies  blown 

Since  she  looked  upon  the  sun." 

The  poetess,  guiltless  of  any  intention  to  cater  for  the 
wants  of  grown-up  lovers,  had  written  "  Ten"  in  the  space 
made  blank  by  Philip's  gallantry  and  real  ignorance  of  his 
charmer's  age.  For  the  rest,  the  "lily-clear  face,"  the  "  fore 
head  fair  and  saintly,"  the  "  trail  of  golden  hair,"  the  blue 
eyes,  "  like  meek  prayers  before  a  shrine,"  the  voice  that 


186  HUSKS. 

"  Murmurs  lowly 
As  a  silver  stream  may  run, 
Which  yet  feels  you  feel  the  sun," 

were,  we  may  safely  assert,  quite  as  much  like  poor  Sarah, 
when  he  sent  the  poem,  as  they  were  now  like  the  portrait 
he  would — if  put  upon  his  oath — sketch  of  his  unidealized 
Lucy. 

It  was  not  unnatural  then,  in  Lewis  Hammond,  to  over 
look  in  his  present  state,  these  glaring  discrepancies  in  the 
picture  as  applied  by  him.  With  a  blanched  and  rigid  coun 
tenance  he  put  all  the  things  back  into  the  box,  shut  it,  and 
restored  it  to  its  place.  Then  he  knelt  on  the  floor  and  hid 
his  face  in  his  wife's  chair ;  and  there  struggled  out  into  the 
still  air  of  the  desecrated  home-temple,  made  sacred  by  his 
love  and  her  abiding,  deep  sobs  from  the  strong  man's 
stricken  heart — a  grief  as  much  more  fearful  than  that  of 
widowhood,  as  the  desertion  and  dishonor  of  the  loved  one 
are  worse  than  death. 


HUSKS.  187 


CHAPTER  XV. 

IT  was  the  "grand*hop"  night  at  the  head-quarters  of 
Newport  fashion.  Sarah,  characteristically  indifferent  to 
gayeties  "made  to  order,"  had  determined  not  to  appear 
below.  The  air  of  her  room  was  fresh  and  pure,  and  a  book, 
yet  unread,  lay  under  the  lamp  upon  her  table.  Her  sister 
and  mother  had  withdrawn  to  dress,  when  Jeannie's  curly 
head  peeped  in  at  Mrs.  Hammond's  door.  Her  features 
wore  a  most  woe-begone  expression. 

"  What  has  gone  wrong,  Jeannie  ?"  inquired  Sarah. 

"  Why,  mamma  says  that  I  will  be  in  her  way  if  I  go  into 
the  ball-room ;  and  it  will  be  so  stupid  to  stay  out  the  whole 
evening,  while  all  the  other  girls  can  see  the  dancing  and 
dresses,  and  hear  the  music.  And  sister  Lucy  says  that  chil 
dren  are  'bores'  in  company." 

"  A  sad  state  of  things,  certainly !  Perhaps  I  may  per 
suade  mother  to  let  you  go." 

"Yes ;  but  if  she  does,  she  will  sit  close  against  the  wall  with 
a  lot  of  other  fat  old  ladies,  and  they  will  talk  over  my  head, 
and  squeeze  me  almost  to  death,  besides  rumpling  my  dress ; 
and  I  so  want  to  wear  my  tucked  pink  grenadine,  sister !" 

"  And  you  would  like  to  have  me  go  down  with  you ;  is 
that  it?" 

Jeannie's  eyes  beamed  delightedly.  "Oh,  if  you  only 
would !" 

Sarah  looked  down  into  the  eager  face  and  saw,  in  antici 
pation,  her  own  little  Belle  imploring  some  boon,  as  impor- 


188  HUSKS. 

tant  to  her,  as  easy  to  be  granted  by  another  as  this,  and 
consented  with  a  kiss. 

"  Run  away  and  bring  your  finery  here !  Mother  is  too 
busy  to  attend  to  you.  Mary  can  dress  you." 

The  order  was  obeyed  with  lightning  speed ;  and  Sarah, 
still  beholding  in  the  excited  child  the  foreshadowing  of  her 
darling's  girlhood,  superintended  the  toilet,  while  she  made 
herself  ready. 

"  What  shall  I  wear,  Jeannie  ?"  "she  asked,  carelessly, 
holding  open  the  door  of  her  wardrobe. 

"  Oh,  that  lovely  fawn-colored  silk,  please  !  the  one  with 
the  black  lace  flounces !  It  is  the  prettiest  color  I  ever  saw; 
and  I  heard  Mrs.  Greyling  tell  another  lady  the  night  you 
wore  it,  when  brother  Lewis  was  here,  you  know,  that  it 
was  one  of  the  richest  dresses  in  the  room,  modest  as  it 
looked,  and  that  the  flounces  must  have  cost  a  penny !" 

"  Probably  more !" 

Sarah  proceeded  to  array  herself  in  the  fortunate  robe 
that  had  won  the  praises  of  the  fashionably  distinguished 
Mrs.  Greyling.  Her  abundant  dark  hair  was  lighted  by  two 
coral  sprigs,  which  formed  the  heads  of  her  hair-pins,  and, 
handkerchief  and  gloves  in  hand,  she  was  taking  a  last  sur 
vey  of  Jeannie's  more  brilliant  costume,  when  there  came  a 
knock  at  the  door. 

"Mr,  Benson !"  said  Mary,  unclosing  it. 

"  May  I  come  in  ?"  he  asked. 

The  tidy  Mary  had  removed  all  trace  of  the  recent  tiring 
operations  from  the  apartment,  which  was  a  compound  of 
parlor  and  dressing-room,  a  necessary  adjunct  to  the  small 
chamber  and  smaller  nursery,  leading  out  of  it,  at  the  side 
and  rear. 

"You  may!"  replied  Sarah.  "Here  is  an  aspirant  for 
ball-room  honors,  who  awaits  your  approval." 

Mademoiselle,  que  vous  e"tes  charmante !     I  am  pene- 


HUSKS.  1S9 

trated  with  profound  admiration!"  exclaimed  the  teasing 
brother-in-law,  raising  his  hands  in  true  melodramatic  style. 

Jeannie  laughed  and  blushed  until  her  cheeks  matched 
the  grenadine. 

"  Mrs.  Hunt  told  me  that  you  had  changed  your  mind, 
and  intended  to  grace  the  festive  scene  with  your  presence,'* 
continued  Philip,  addressing  Sarah.  "  She  and  Lucy  are 
there,  and  the  dancing  has  begun.  I  came  to  escort  you 
and  our  fair  debutante  here — that  is,  unless  some  one  else 
has  oifered  his  services  and  been  accepted." 

"  That  is  not  likely,  since  Mr.  Hammond  left  us  in  your 
care.  Do  not  your  fourfold  duties  oppress  you  ?" 

"  "Not  in  the  least.  If  all  my  charges  were  as  chary  of 
their  calls  upon  me  as  you  are,  my  time  would  hang  heavily 
upon  my  hands.  No  one  would  imagine,  from  your  reluc 
tance  to  be  waited  upon,  that  you  had  been  spoiled  at  home. 
If  Mr.  Hammond  were  here  now,  he  would  tell  you  to  draw 
that  shawl—" 

"  It  is  an  opera  cloak !"  interrupted  Jeannie. 

"  A  ball-cloak  to-night,  then,  is  it  not  ?  I  was  saying  that, 
although  the  night  is  not  cool  for  sea  air,  you  had  better 
wrap  that  mantle  about  your  chest  and  throat  as  we  go 
out." 

Just  outside  the  door  a  waiter  passed  them  with  a  note 
in  his  hand.  He  stopped,  on  seeing  Philip. 

"  Mr.  Benson !  I  was  on  my  way  to  your  rooms  with  this, 
sir." 

Philip  stepped  back  within  the  parlor  to  read  it  by  the 
light.  It  was  a  line  from  a  friend  who  had  just  arrived 
at  another  hotel,  notifying  him  of  this  fact.  It  required  no 
reply,  and  leaving  it  upon  the  table,  he  rejoined  his  com 
panions. 

"  See  mamma !  Isn't  it  just  as  I  said  ?"  whispered  Jean 
nie,  as  she  established  herself  beside  her  sister  in  a  comfort- 


190  HUSKS. 

able  corner  that  commanded  a  view  of  the  spacious  hall  and 
its  gay,  restless  sea  of  figures. 

Sarah  smiled  at  discovering  her  mother  sandwiched  be 
tween  two  portly  dowagers ;  one  in  purple,  the  other  in 
lavender  silk;  all  three  bobbing  and  waving  in  their  ear 
nest  confabulations,  in  a  style  that  presented  a  ludicrously 
marked  resemblance  to  the  gesticulations  of  a  group  of 
Muscovy  ducks,  on  the  margin  of  a  mud-puddle,  held  by 
them  in  their  capacity  of  a  joint-stock  company. 

"  I  see  that  Lucy  has  taken  the  floor,"  observed  Philip. 
"  She  will  not  thank  me  for  any  devoirs  I  could  render  her 
for  the  next  three  hours.  If  they  get  up  any  thing  so  hum 
drum  as  quadrilles,  may  I  ask  the  pleasure  of  your  company 
for  the  set  ?" 

'  If  you  wish  it — and  my  dress  is  not  too  grave  in  hue — " 

"  And  too  decorous  in  its  make,  you  were  about  to  add, 
I  presume :"  he  finished  the  sentence  bluntly.  "  It  forms  a 
refreshing  contrast  to  the  prevailing  style  around  us." 

Lucy  here  flitted  into  sight,  and  her  very  bare  arms  and 
shoulders  pointed  her  husband's  strictures.  A  stool,  brought 
into  the  room  for  the  use  of  some  child  or  invalid  looker-on 
of  the  festivities,  now  stood  empty  under  Sarah's  chair,  and 
Philip,  espying  it,  seized  upon  and  drew  it  forth.  When 
seated,  his  mouth  was  nearly  on  a  level  with  Sarah's  ear. 

"  This  is  pleasant !"  he  said.  "  We  are  quite  as  much 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  mankind  as  if  we  were  sitting 
among  the  heathery  hillocks  on  Deal  Beach.  You  do  not 
love  the  visions  of  those  tranquil  sunny  days  as  I  do.  You 
never  allude  to  them  voluntarily.  Yet  you  have  had  less  to 
convert  your  dreams  into  every-day  actualities,  tedious  and 
prosaic,  than  I  have.  I  stand  in  direful  need  of  one  of  the 
old  lectures,  inculcating  more  charity,  and  less  study  of 
complex  motives  and  biassed  tendencies  in  the  machine  we 
call  Man.  Begin !  I  am  at  your  mercy." 


HUSKS.  191 

"I  have  forgotten  how  to  deliver  them.  I  am  out  of 
practice." 

"That  is  not  surprising.  Your  husband  is  behind  the 
age  he  lives  in — and  so  are  you.  You  two  would  make 

O  » 

Barnum's  fortune,  could  he  ever  persuade  the  public  of 
your  idiosyncrasies." 

"  What  are  you  talking  about  ?" 

"Look  around  and  through  this  room,  and  you  will  un 
derstand  one  part  of  my  meaning.  Do  you  remark  the 
preponderance  of  married  over  single  belles  ?  and  that  the 
most  tenderly  deferential  cavaliers  are  husbands,  and  not 
dancing  with  their  wives  ?  I  could  point  out  to  you  three 
men,  leaders  of  the  ton  in  this  extremely  reputable,  emi 
nently  moral  assembly,  who,  it  is  whispered  among  the 
knowing  ones,  are  married,  and,  having  left  their  domestic 
associations  for  a  season  of  recreation,  boldly  attach  them 
selves  to  certain  stylish  young  ladies  here,  and  challenge 
observation,  defy  public  censure,  by  their  marked  and  in 
creasing  devotion.  I  meet  them  strolling  along  the  beach 
in  the  morning ;  riding  together  in  the  afternoon ;  and 
when  not  engaged  in  this  evening  exhibition  of  toilet  and 
muscle,  you  will  find  them  pacing  the  moon  or  star-lit  pi 
azza,  or,  perchance,  again  sentimentalizing  on  the  shore  until 
the  witching  hour  draws  near." 

"  You  surprise  me !" 

"  You  have  no  right  to  be  surprised.  You  have  the  same 
thing  continually  before  you  in  your  city.  Every  fashion 
able  hotel  or  boarding-house  can  supply  you  with  such 
flirtations  by  the  dozen.  A  married  woman  who  declines 
the  polite  services  of  all  gentlemen,  except  her  husband 
and  near  relatives,  is  a  prude,  with  false  scruples  of  propri 
ety  and  delicacy.  Let  her  legal  partner  complain — he  is 
cried  out  upon  as  a  despot,  and  you  can  trust  the  sweet  an 
gel  of  an  abused  wife  to  elude  his  vigilance — violence,  she 


192  HUSKS. 

terms  it — for  the  future,  without  altering  her  conduct 
in  aught  else.  Do  you  see  that  pretty  woman  in  blue — the 
one  with  the  madonna-like  face  ?  Her  tyrant  is  here  but 
once  a  week — from  Saturday  until  Monday — then  hies  back 
to  the  business  he  loves  as  well  as  she  does  her  pleasure. 
Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday,  and  the 
forenoon  of  Saturday,  any  mustachioed  puppy  may  walk, 
talk,  drive,  and  flirt  with  her — bask  in  the  rays  of  those 
liquid  orbs.  When  the  rightful  lord  appears,  she  is  demure 
as  a  nun,  patient  as  a  saint,  dutiful  as  Griselda,  to  him  and 
him  alone.  Do  you  begin  to  understand  why  I  congratu 
lated  you  upon  having  a  husband  of  the  olden  stamp  ?  why, 
I  do  from  my  heart  felicitate  my  friend  Hammond  upon 
having  gained,  as  a  helpmeet,  one  of  that  nearly  obsolete 
species — Woman !" 

Sarah's  embarrassment  was  painful,  and  but  indifferently 
concealed.  She  felt  that  it  was  barely  excusable,  in  consid 
eration  of  his  fraternal  relation  to  her,  for  Philip  to  speak  so 
plainly  of  this  social  blemish ;  and  altogether  unpardonable, 
while  he  did  not,  or  could  not,  prevent  his  wife's  participation 
in  the  questionable  gayeties  he  assailed  so  unsparingly.  Re 
ply  she  could  not,  without  implicating  Lucy  in  her  reproba 
tion,  and  he  must  perceive  her  difficulty.  This  was  the 
trouble  that  lay  uppermost.  At  her  heart's  core,  the  uneasy 
feeling  she  ever  experienced  in  conversation  with  him ;  the 
stirring  of  the  enlombed  love,  of  whose  actual  death  she 
had  horrible  misgivings ;  the  incongruous  blending  of  past 
emotion  with  present  duty,  were  now  aggravated  by  the 
enforced  acceptance  of  unmerited  praise.  Her  woman's 
instinct,  her  experience  as  a  wife,  told  her  that  the  cause  of 
the  sinful  recklessness,  the  contempt  of  the  true  spirit  of 
the  marriage  tie,  was  not  the  fruit  merely  of  the  vanity  and 
thirst  for  adulation,  to  which  it  was  properly  attributed. 
With  the  recollection  of  her  own  life,  the  education  she  had 


HUSKS.  193 

received  at  home,  the  hateful,  yet,  even  to  her  independent 
spirit,  resistless  decrees  of  society,  there  swelled  up  within 
her  bosom  something  akin  to  Philip's  bitter  cynicism.  Un 
der  this  spur,  she  spoke. 

"  And  from  these  signs  of  the  times,  you  would  argue  an 
inherent  degeneracy  of  womanhood — a  radical  change  in  its 
composition,  such  as  some  anatomists  tell  us  has  taken  place 
in  the  structure  of  our  bodies — our  blood — our  very  teeth. 
A  dentist,  who  filled  a  tooth  for  me  the  other  day,  imparted 
divers  scientific  items  of  information  to  me  that  may  illus 
trate  your  position.  '  Enamel,  madam,  is  not  what  enamel 
was  in  the  days  of  our  ancestors !'  he  affirmed  pathetically  ; 
4  the  color,  the  very  ingredients  of  the  bone,  the  calcareous 
base  of  the  teeth,  differ  sadly  from  the  indestructible  molars 
of  fifty  years  ago.'  At  this  passage  of  his  jeremiade,  he 
chanced  to  touch  the  nerve  in  the  unhappy  c  molar '  he  was 
excavating,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  I  suffered  as  really 
as  my  grandmother  would  have  done,  had  she  sat  in  my 
place." 

She  paused,  and  beat  time  with  her  fingers  on  Jeannie's 
shoulder  to  the  wild,  varying  waltz  that  swept  the  giddy 
crowd  around  the  room  in  fast  and  flying  circles. 

"  Your  analogy  asserts,  then,  that  at  heart  women  are 
alike  in  all  ages  ?" 

"  Why  not,  as  well  as  men  ?" 

"  Then  why  does  not  action  remain  the  same,  if  that  be 
true?" 

"  Because  custom — fashion,  if  you  prefer  this  name — an 
unaccountable,  irresponsible  power — owing  its  birth  often- 
est  to  accident  or  caprice,  says,  '  Do  this  !'  and  it  is  done ! 
be  it  to  perpetrate  a  cravat-bow,  a  marriage,  or  a  murder  !" 

Another  pause — in  which  music  and  dancers  seemed 
sweeping  on  to  sweet  intoxication — so  joyous  in  their 
abandon  were  the  gushing  strains ;  so  swift  the  whirl  of 
9 


194  HUSKS. 

the  living  ring.  The  fingers  played  lightly  and  rapidly  on 
Jeannie's  plump  shoulder — then  rested  on  a  half-beat. 

"  Yes !"  She  was  looking  towards  the  crowd,  but  her  eye 
was  fixed,  and  her  accents  slow  and  grave.  "  Hearts  live 
and  hearts  love,  while  time  endures.  The  heart  selects  its 
mate  in  life's  spring-time,  with  judgment  as  untaught  as 
that  of  the  silly  bird  that  asks  no  companion  but  the  one 
the  God  of  Nature  has  bestowed  upon  it.  But  s.ee  you  not, 
my  good  brother  " — she  faced  him,  a  smile  wreathing  her 
lip — a  strange  glitter  in  her  eye — "  see  you  not  to  Avhat 
woeful  disorders  these  untrained  desires,  this  unsophisticated 
following  out  of  unregulated  affections  would  give  rise  ?  It 
would  sap  the  foundations  of  caste ;  level  all  wholesome  dis 
tinctions  of  society;  consign  the  accomplished  daughters  of 
palatial  halls — hoary  with  a  semi-decade  of  years — to  one- 
story  cottages  and  a  maid-of-all  work;  doom  nice  young 
men  to  the  drudgery  of  business  for  the  remainder  of  their 
wretched  lives,  to  maintain  wives  whose  dowries  would  not 
keep  their  lily-handed  lords  in  French  kids  for  a  year ;  cover 
managing  mammas  with  ignominy,  and  hasten  ambitious  pa 
pas  to  their  costly  vaults  in — as  Dickens  has  it — '  some  gen 
teel  place  of  interment.'  Come  what  may  of  blasted  hopes 
and  wrecked  hearts,  the  decencies  of  life  must  be  observed. 
Every  heart  has  its  nerve — genuine,  sensitive,  sometimes 
vulgarly  tenacious  of  life — but  there  are  corrosives  that  will 
eat  it  out ;  fine,  deadly  wires,  that  can  probe  and  torture 
and  extract  it.  And  when  the  troublesome  thing  is  finally 
gotten  rid  of,  there  is  an  end  to  all  obstacles  t®  judicious 
courtships  and  eligible  alliances !"  She  laughed  scornfully, 
and  Philip  recoiled,  without  knowing  why  he  did  so,  as  he 
heard  her. 

"  That  is  ill  very  well,  when  the  nature  of  the  contract  is 
understood  on  both  sides,"  he  said,  gloomily.  "  I  doubt, 
however,  whether  the  beautiful  economy  of  your  system 


HUSKS.  195 

will  be  appreciated  by  those  whose  living  hearts  are  bound 
to  the  bloodless  plaster-casts  you  describe." 

"These  accidents  will  occur  in  spite  of  caution  on  the 
part  of  the  best  managers  of  suitable  marriages.  By  far 
the  larger  proportion  of  the  shocks  inflicted  upon  polite  cir 
cles  arise  from  this  very  cause.  Pygmalion  grows  weary 
of  wooing  his  statue,  and  wants  sympathy  in  his  disappoint 
ment  and  loneliness." 

The  dance  was  ended.  The  fantastic  variations  of  the 
waltz  were  exchanged  for  a  noble  march — pealing  through 
the  heated  rooms  like  a  rush  of  the  healthful  sea-breeze. 
The  spark  died  in  Sarah's  eye.  Her  voice  took  its  habit 
ual  pitch. 

"  I  have  permitted  myself  to  become  excited,  and,  I  am 
afraid,  have  said  many  things  that  I  had  no  right  to  think — 
much  less  to  utter.  If  my  freedom  has  displeased  you,  I  am 
sorry." 

"  The  error — if  error  there  were — was  mine,"  rejoined 
Philip.  "  I  led  the  conversation  into  the  channel ;  you,  af 
ter  awhile,  followed.  I  believe  there  is  no  danger  of  our 
misunderstanding  each  other." 

"  Darby  and  Joan  !  good  children  in  the  corner !"'  cried 
Lucy,  flushed  with  exercise  and  radiant  with  good  humor, 
as  she  promenaded  past  them  leaning  on  the  arm  of  a  young 
West  Pointer,  a  native  Southerner  and  an  acquaintance  of 
Philip's.  If  his  wife  must  flirt  and  frolic,  he  was  watchful 
that  she  did  not  compromise  him  by  association  with  doubt 
ful  characters.  On  several  occasions,  the  advances  of  gay 
gentlemen,  whose  toilets  were  more  nearly  irreproachable 
than  their  reputations,  had  been  checked  by  his  cool  and 
significant  resumption  of  the  husband's  post  beside  the 
belle,  and,  if  need  existed,  by  the  prompt  withdrawal  of 
the  unwilling  lady  from  the  scene.  The  cadet  laughed,  and, 

convinced  that  she  had  said  a  witty  thing,  Lucy  swam  by. 

k 

' 


196  HUSKS. 

"  The  common  sense  of  our  tropes,  rodomontades,  and  al 
legories  is  this  !"  said  Philip,  biting  his  lip,  and  speaking  in 
a  hard  tone.  "  The  only  safe  ground  in  marriage  is  mutual, 
permanent  affection.  You  meant  to  convey  the  idea  that  if 
each  of  these  dressy  matrons,  humming  around  our  ears, 
had  a  sincere,  abiding  love  for  her  husband — and  each  of 
these  gallant  Benedicts  the  right  kind  of  regard  for  his 
wedded  Beatrice,  the  vocation  of  us  corner  censors  would 
be  gone?" 

"  Well  said,  Mr.  Interpreter !"  she  responded,  in  affected 
jest. 

"  This  point  settled,  will  you  take  my  arm  for  a  turn 
through  the  room  before  the  next  set  is  formed  ?  They  are 
talking  of  quadrilles.  I  shall  claim  your  promise  if  a  set  is 
made  up,  unless  you  are  not  courageous  enough  to  brave  the 
public  sneer  by  dancing  with  your  brother.  Come,  Jeannie, 
and  walk  with  us." 

Two  sets  of  quadrilles  were  arranged  at  different  ends  of 
the  saloon.  Philip  led  Sarah  through  one,  with  Lucy — 
who  considered  it  a  capital  joke — and  her  partner  vis-d-vis 
to  them,  Jeannie,  meanwhile,  remaining  by  her  mother. 

The  summer  nights  were  short ;  and,  when  the  dance  was 
over,  Sarah  intimated  to  her  younger  sister  the  propriety 
of  retiring.  Mrs.  Hunt's  head  ached,  and  she  esteemed  the 
sacrifice  comparatively  light,  therefore,  that  she,  too,  had  to 
leave  the  revels  and  accompany  the  child  to  her  chamber. 
Sarah's  apartments  were  on  the  same  floor,  several  doors 
further  on.  Having  said  "  Good-night "  to  the  others,  she 
and  Philip  walked  slowly  along  the  piazza,  light  as  day  in 
the  moonbeams,  until  they  reached  her  outer  room,  the 
parlor. 

"  I  hope  you  will  experience  no  ill  effects  from  your  dis 
sipation,"  said  Philip,  in  playful  irony.  "  In  a  lady  of  your 
staid  habits,  this  disposition  to  gayety  is  alarming.  Abso- 


HUSKS.  197 

lately  eleven  o'clock !  What  will  Hammond  say  when  he 
hears  the  story  ?  Good-night !  Don't  let  your  conscience 
keep  you  awake !" 

Sarah  opened  the  door  softly,  that  she  might  not  startle 
the  baby-sleeper  in  the  inner  room.  The  lamp  was  shining 
brightly,  and  by  it  sat — her  husband ! 


198  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

LEWIS  had  entered  his  wife's  room  within  fifteen  minutes 
after  she  left  it.  He  looked  so  ill  and  weary  that  the 
girl,  Mary,  gave  a  stifled  scream  of  fright  and  surprise. 

"  Are  you  sick,  sir  ?"  she  asked  hastily,  as  he  threw  off 
his  hat,  and  wiped  his  pale  forehead.  "  Shall  I  tell  Mrs. 
Hammond  that  you  are  here  ?  She  went  down  to  the  ball 
room  awhile  ago." 

"  What  did  you  say  ?     No  !"  replied  he,  shortly. 

His  frown,  rather  than  his  tone,  silenced  her.  He  had 
picked  up  the  envelope  Philip  had  dropped  on  the  table, 
and  his  face  darkened  still  more.  Too  proud  to  question  a 
servant  of  her  mistress'  actions  and  associates,  he  believed 
that  he  had  gathered  from  this  mute  witness  all  that  was 
needful  to  know.  As  a  privileged  habitue  of  the  cosy  bou 
doir  he  had  been  at  such  pains  to  procure  and  make  fit  for 
his  wife's  occupancy,  another  had  sat  here  and  read  his 
evening  mail,  while  awaiting  her  leisure ;  careless  of  ap 
pearances,  since  the  deceived  one  would  not  be  there  to 
notice  them,  had  tossed  this  note  down  with  as  much  free 
dom  as  he  would  have  done  in  his  own  apartment. 

Through  the  open  windows  poured  the  distant  strains  of 
the  band ;  and,  seized  by  a  sudden  thought,  he  caught  up 
his  hat  and  strode  out,  along  piazzas  and  through  halls,  to 
the  entrance-door  of  the  ball  saloon.  As  Sarah's  ill-fortune 
ordained  it,  the  piercing  glance  that  ran  over  and  beyond 
the  crowd  of  spectators  and  dancers  detected  her  at  the  in- 


HUSKS.  199 

stant  of  Philip's  taking  his  lowly  seat  at  her  side.  Jeannie's 
pink  attire  was  concealed  by  the  drapery  of  a  lady,  whose 
place  in  the  set  then  forming  was  directly  in  front  of  her. 
Lewis  saw  but  the  two,  virtually  tete-d-tete  ;  and,  as  he  ob 
tained  fleeting  glimpses  of  them  through  the  shifting  throng, 
marked  Philip's  energetic,  yet  confidential  discourse,  and 
the  intentness  with  which  she  listened,  until,  warmed  or  ex 
cited  by  his  theme,  Sarah  lifted  her  downcast  eyes  and 
spoke,  with  what  feeling  and  effect  her  auditor's  varying 
expression  showed. 

The  gazer  stood  there  like  a  statue,  unheeding  the  sur 
prised  and  questioning  looks  cast  by  passers-by  upon  his 
travelling-dress,  streaked  with  dust — his  sad  and  settled 
visage,  so  unbefitting  the  scene  within — while  Philip  made 
the  tour  of  the  room,  with  Sarah  upon  his  arm,  until  they 
took  their  stations  for  the  dance ;  he,  courteous  and  atten 
tive — she,  smiling  and  happy,  more  beautiful  in  her  hus 
band's  eyes  than  her  blonde  sister  opposite ;  and  he  could 
stay  no  longer.  If  Mary  had  thought  him  sick  and  cross 
at  his  former  entrance,  she  considered  him  savage  now,  for 
one  who  was  ordinarily  a  kind  and  gentle  master. 

"  You  can  go  to  your  room !"  he  ordered,  not  advised. 
"  I  will  sit  up  for  Mrs.  Hammond  !" 

"  I  have  slept  in  the  nursery,  sir,  while  you  were  away." 

"  That  cannot  be  to-night.  I  will  find  you  some  other 
place." 

He  had  no  intention  that  the  anticipated  conversation 
with  his  wife  should  be  overheard. 

"  I  can  stay  with  a  friend  of  mine,  sir,  only  a  few  doors 
off." 

"Very  well!" 

Quickly  and  quietly  the  nurse  arranged  the  night-lamp 
and  the  child's  food,  that  her  mistress  might  have  no  trouble 
during  her  absence,  and  went  out. 


200  HUSKS. 

Baby  Belle  slumbered  on,  happily  wandering  through  the 
guileless  mazes  of  baby  dream-land ;  one  little  arm,  bared 
from  the  sleeve  of  her  gown,  thrown  above  her  head — the 
hand  of  the  other  cradling  her  cheek.  The  father  ventured 
to  press  a  light  kiss  upon  the  red  lips.  In  his  desolation, 
he  craved  this  trifling  solace.  The  child's  face  was  con 
torted  by  an  expression  of  discomfort,  and,  still  dreaming, 
she  murmured,  in  her  inarticulate  language,  some  pettish 
expression  of  disgust. 

"  My  very  child  shrinks  from  me !  It  is  in  the  blood  !" 
said  the  unhappy  man,  drawing  back  from  the  crib. 

If  his  resolution  had  waned  at  sight  of  the  sleeper,  it  was 
fixed  again  when  he  returned  to  his  chair  in  the  outer  room. 
He  raised  his  head  from  his  folded  arms  when  he  heard 
Philip  and  Sarah  approaching,  but  did  not  otherwise  alter 
his  position.  The  low  tone  of  their  parting  words — one 
soon  learned  by  the  sojourners  in  hotels  and  watering-places, 
where  thin  partitions  and  ventilators  abound — was,  to  him, 
the  cautiously  repressed  voice  of  affectionate  good-nights. 
But  one  clause  was  distinct — "  What  will  Hammond  say, 
when  he  hears  the  story  ?"  They  jested  thus  of  him,  then. 
One  of  them,  at  least,  should  learn  ere  long  what  he  would 
say. 

"  Lewis !  you  here !" 

Sarah  changed  color  with  amazement  and  vague  alarm — 
emotion  that  paralyzed  her  momentarily.  Then,  as  she  dis 
cerned  the  tokens  of  disorder  in  his  dress  and  countenance, 
she  hurried  forward. 

"What  has  brought  you  so  unexpectedly?  Are  you 
sick  ?  Has  any  thing  happened  ?" 

He  did  not  rise ;  and,  resting  her  hand  on  his  shoulder, 
she  stooped  for  a  kiss.  But  his  stern  gaze  never  moved 
from  hers — anxious  and  inquiring — and  his  lips  were  like 
stone. 


HUSKS.  201 

"  Lewis,  speak  to  me !  If  you  have  dreadful  news  to 
tell  me,  for  pity's  sake,  do  not  keep  me  in  suspense !" 

"  I  have  nothing  to  say  that  will  be  new  to  you,"  he  said, 
without  relaxing  his  hard,  cold  manner,  "  and  not  a  great 
deal  that  ought  to  have  been  kept  back  from  me  when  I 
wished  to  marry  you,  believing  that  you  had  a  heart  to 
give  me  with  your  hand." 

As  if  struck  in  the  face,  Sarah  sank  back  into  a  chair, 
speechless  and  trembling. 

"  Yes !  had  you  been  sincere  with  me  then,  grieved  and 
disappointed  as  I  would  have  felt,  I  would  have  respected 
you  the  more,  and  loved  you  none  the  less  for  the  dis 
closure.  But  when,  after  a  year  and  a  half  of  married  life, 
I  learn  that  the  woman  I  have  loved  and  trusted  with  my 
whole  soul — from  whom  I  have  never  concealed  a  thought 
that  it  could  interest  her  to  know — has  all  the  while  been 
playing  a  false  part — vowing  at  the  altar  to  love  me  and 
me  alone,  when  she  secretly  idolized  another ;  bearing  my 
name,  living  beneath  my  roof,  sleeping  in  my  bosom — yet 
thinking  of,  and  caring  for  him,  treasuring  his  keepsakes  as 
the  most  precious  of  her  possessions — is  it  strange  that, 
wThen  the  tongue  of  a  vulgar  gossip  proclaims  my  shame  in 
my  hearing,  and  other  evidence  proves  what  I  thought  was 
his  vile  slander  to  be  true  as  gospel — is  it  strange,  I  say, 
that  I  am  incensed  at  the  deception  practised  upon  me — at 
the  infamous  outrage  of  my  dearest  hopes — my  most  holy 
feelings?" 

She  threw  herself  at  his  feet,  clasped  his  knees,  and  im 
plored  him,  chokingly,  to  "  forgive"  her.  "  Oh !  if  you 
knew  what  I  have  suffered !" 

"What  you  have  suffered!"    He  folded  his  arms   and 

looked  sorrowfully  down  at  her  crouching  figure.     "  Yes ! 

you  were  not  by  nature  coarse  and  unfeeling !     The  violence 

you  have  committed  upon  your  heart  and  every  principle  of 

9* 


202  HUSKS. 

delicacy  and  truth  must  have  cost  you  pain.  Then  you 
loved  him !" 

"  Once !  a  long  while  ago !"  said  Sarah,  hiding  her  face 
in  her  hands. 

"Take  care!"  There  was  no  softness  now  in  his  tone. 
"  Remember  that  I  have  seen  you  together  day  by  day,  and 
that  glances  and  actions,  unnoticed  at  the  time  in  my  stupid 
blindness,  recur  to  me  now  with  terrible  meaning.  For 
once,  speak  the  true  voice  of  feeling,  and  own  what  I  know 
already,  that  all  the  love  you  ever  had  to  give  belongs  still 
to  your  sister's  husband !" 

"I  will  speak  the  truth!"  Sarah  arose  and  stood  before 
him — face  livid  and  eyes  burning.  "  I  did  love  this  man ! 
I  married  you,  partly  to  please  my  parents,  partly  because 
I  found  out  that  by  some  means  my  secret  had  fallen  into 
unscrupulous  hands,  and  I  was  mad  with  dread  of  its  ex 
posure  !  It  seemed  to  me  that  no  worse  shame  could  come 
upon  me  than  to  have  it  trumpeted  abroad  that  I  had 
bestowed  my  love  unsought,  and  was  ready  to  die  because 
it  was  slighted.  I  have  learned  since  that  it  is  far,  far  worse 
to  live  a  lie — to  despise  myself!  Oh!  that  I  had  died 
then !"  She  battled  with  the  emotion  that  threatened  to 
overwhelm  her,  and  went  on.  "  Once  bound  to  you,  it  has 
been  my  hourly  endeavor  to  feel  and  act  as  became  the 
faithful  wife  of  a  kind,  noble  man.  If,  sometimes,  I  have 
erred  in  thought — if  my  feelings  have  failed  me  in  the  mo 
ment  of  trial — yet,  in  word  and  deed,  in  look  and  gesture,  I 
have  been  true  to  you.  No  one  have  I  deceived  more 
thoroughly  than  Philip  Benson.  He  never  suspected  my 
unfortunate  partiality  for  himself ;  he  believes  me  still,  what 
I  would  give  worlds  to  become  in  truth,  your  loyal,  loving 
wife !  It  is  well  that  you  know  the  truth  at  last.  I  do  not 
ask  you  how  you  have  obtained  the  outlines  of  a  disgrace 
ful  story,  that  I  have  tried  a  thousand  times  to  tell  you,  but 


HUSKS.  203 

was  prevented  by  the  fear  of  losing  your  favor  forever. 
This  is  my  poor  defence — not  against  your  charges,  but  in 
palliation  of  the  sin  of  which  they  justly  accuse  me.  I  can 
say  nothing  more.  Do  with  me  as  you  will !" 

"It  is  but  just  to  myself  that  you  should  hear  the  cir 
cumstances  which  accidentally  revealed  this  matter  to  me." 

He  narrated  the  scene  at  the  restaurant,  and  the  discovery 
of  the  evening.  He  evinced  neither  relenting  nor  sympathy 
in  the  recital.  Her  confession  had  extinguished  the  last  ray 
of  hope,  cherished,  though  unacknowledged  by  himself, 
that  she  might  extenuate  her  error  or  give  a  more  favorable 
construction  to  the  evidence  against  her.  It  was  not  singu 
lar  that,  in  the  reaction  of  disappointment,  he  was  ready  to 
believe  that  he  had  not  heard  all ;  to  imagine  that  he  could 
perceive  throughout  her  statement  a  disposition  to  screen 
Philip,  that  was,  in  itself,  a  proof  of  disingenuousness,  if 
not  deliberate  falsehood.  She  denied  that  he  had  ever  been 
aware  of  her  attachment  or  had  reciprocated  it.  What 
meant  then  those  words — "  hopes  in  time  to  have  a  nearer 
claim  ?"  what  those  impassioned  verses  ?  what  the  linking 
of  their  initials  within  the  shell  ?  the  motto  on  the  wooden 
tablet?  While  these  subtle  queries  were  insinuated  into 
his  soul  by  some  mocking  spirit,  he  concluded  the  history 
of  the  discovery  of  the  casket. 

"  I  have  never  opened  it  since  the  night  before  I  was 
married,"  said  Sarah,  with  no  haste  of  self-justification. 
"  I  put  it  into  the  drawer  the  day  after  we  went  to  our 
house.  It  has  not  been  unlocked  from  that  day  to  this." 

"  Why  keep  it  at  all,  unless  as  a  memento  of  one  still  dear 
to  you?" 

"I  felt  as  if  I  had  buried  it.  I  said  to  myself:  'If  the 
time  ever  comes  when  I  can  disinter  these  relics  and  show 
them  to  my  husband,  without  a  pang  or  fear,  as  mementoes 
of  a  dead  and  almost  forgotten  folly,  he  shall  destroy  them, 


204:  HUSKS. 

and  I  shall  have  gained  a  victory  that  will  insure  my  life 
long  happiness.'  r 

"  And  that  tune  has  never  arrived." 

She  would  have  spoken,  but  her  tongue  proved  traitorous. 
She  crimsoned  and  was  silent. 

Lewis  smiled  drearily.  "  You  see  that  I  know  you  bet 
ter  than  you  do  yourself.  It  is  well,  as  you  have  said,  that 
I  know  all  at  last.  I  pity  you  !  If  I  could,  I  would  release 
you  from  your  bondage.  As  it  is,  I  will  do  all  that  I  can 
for  this  end." 

"  Never !"  cried  Sarah,  shuddering.  "  Have  you  forgot 
ten  our  child  ?" 

"  I  have  not !"  His  voice  shook  for  a  second.  "  She  is 
all  that  unites  us  now.  For  the  sake  of  her  future — her 
good  name — an  open  separation  ought  to  be  avoided,  if 
possible, — if  it  be  inevitable,  your  conduct  must  not  be  the 
ostensible  cause.  To  quiet  malicious  tongues,  you  must 
remain  here  awhile  longer  under  your  mother's  care.  To 
accomplish  the  same  end,  I  must  appear  once  more  in  public, 
and  on  apparently  friendly  terms  with — your  brother-in-law. 
When  your  mother  returns  to  the  city,  you  had  best  go, 
too,  and  to  your  own  house.  Your  brother  Kobert  is  now 
sixteen  years  old — steady  and  manly  enough  to  act  as  your 
protector.  Invite  him  to  stay  with  you,  and  also  Jeannie, 
if  you  find  it  lonely." 

"  What  are  you  saying  ?  Where  will  you  be  that  you 
speak  of  my  choosing  another  protector  ?" 

"  A  very  incompetent  one  I  have  proved  myself  to  be  !" 
he  returned,  with  the  same  sad  smile.  "  I  have  not  been 
able  to  shield  you  from  invidious  reports;  still  less  to 
save  you  from  yourself.  I  sail  for  Europe  day  after  to 
morrow." 

"  Lewis,  you  will  not !  If  you  ever  loved  me,  do  not 
desert  me  and  our  child  now !  I  will  submit  to  any  punish- 


HUSKS.  205 

ment  but  this !"  .  She  clung  anew  to  his  knees  as  she 
poured  out  her  prayer. 

"Not  a  month  ago  she  had  turned  pale  with  fright  at 
the  suggestion  of  this  voyage.  It  was  sheer  acting  then  ! 
why  not  now  ? 

"  Objections  are  useless !"  he  said.  "  My  arrangements 
are  made.  I  have  passed  my  word." 

"  But  you  will  not  leave  me  in  anger  !  Say  that  you  will 
forgive  me !  that  you  will  return  soon,  and  this  miserable 
night  be  forgotten !" 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  when  I  will  return  ?"  He  raised  her 
head,  and  looked  straight  into  her  eyes.  "  When  you  write 
to  me,  and  tell  me  that  you  have  destroyed  the  love-tokens 
in  that  box  ;  when  you  bid  me  come  back  for  your  sake — 
not  for  our  child's !  Until  then,  I  shall  believe  that  my 
presence  would  be  irksome  to  you.  It  is  necessary  for  our 
house  to  have  a  resident  partner  in  England.  It  is  my  ex 
pectation  to  fill  that  place  for  some  time  to  come ;  it  shall 
be  for  you  to  say  how  long." 

Bowed  as  Sarah's  spirit  was  beneath  the  burst  of  the 
long-dreaded  storm  and  her  accusing  conscience,  her 
womanly  pride  revolted  at  this  speech.  She  had  humbled 
herself  in  the  dust  at  the  feet  of  a  man  whom  she  did  not 
love ;  had  borne  meekly  his  reproaches  ;  submitted  dumbly 
to  the  degrading  suspicions  that  far  transcended  her  actual 
sin :  but  as  the  idea  of  her  suing  servilely  for  the  love  she 
had  never  yet  valued ;  of  him,  indifferent  and  independent, 
awaiting  afar  off  for  her  petition — hers,  whom  he  had 
abandoned  to  the  scornful  sneers  of  the  keen-witted  hyenas 
of  society ;  to  the  cross-examination  of  her  distrustful  rela 
tives  ;  the  stings  of  remorse ;  left  in  one  word  to  herself  7 — 
as  this  picture  grew  up  clearly  before  her  mind,  the  tide  of 
feeling  turned. 

"  You  reject  my  prayers  and  despise  my  tears !"  she  said, 


206  HUSKS. 

proudly.  "  You  refuse  to  accept  of  my  humiliation.  Yet  you 
do  not  doubt  me,  as  you  would  have  me  believe  that  you 
do !  Else  you  would  not  dare  to  trust  me — the  keeper  of 
your  honor  and  your  child's  fair  name — out  of  your  sight ! 
I  throw  back  the  charge  in  your  teeth,  and  tell  you  that 
your  conduct  gives  it  the  lie !  I  have  asked  you — shame 
on  me  that  I  did ! — to  continue  to  me  the  shelter  of  your 
name  and  presence  ;  to  shield  me,  a  helpless  woman,  more 
unhappy  than  guilty,  from  the  ban  of  the  world  ;  and  you 
deny  me  every  thing  but  a  contemptible  shadow  of  re 
spectability,  which  the  veriest  fool  can  penetrate.  I  would 
not  have  you  suppose  that  your  generous  confidence  in  my 
integrity" — she  brought  out  the  words  with  scathing  con 
tempt — "  will  deter  me  from  sinking  to  the  level  you  are 
pleased  to  assign  me.  If  the  native  dignity  of  my  woman 
hood,  the  principles  I  inherit  from  my  father,  my  love  for 
my  innocent  babe  do  not  hold  me  back  from  ruin,  be  as 
sured  that  the  hope  of  winning  your  approval  will  not.  To 
you  I  make  no  pledges  of  reformation ;  I  offer  but  one 
promise.  If  you  choose  to  remain  abroad  until  I,  in  spirit, 
kiss  your  feet,  and  pray  you  to  receive  a  love  such  as  most 
men  are  glad  to  win  by  assiduity  of  attention,  and  every 
pleasing  art — which  you  would  force  into  being  by  wilful 
and  revengeful  absence — you  will  never  see  your  native 
land  again  until  the  grass  grows  upon  my  grave  !" 

She  paused  for  breath,  and  continued  more  slowly. 
"  While  your  child  lives,  and  I  remain  her  guardian,  I  will 
use  your  means  for  her  maintenance — will  reside  in  your 
house.  If  she  dies,  or  you  take  her  from  me,  I  will  not 
owe  you  my  support  for  a  single  day  more !" 

Lewis  grew  pallid  to  his  lips ;  but  he,  too,  was  proud, 
and  his  stubborn  will  was  called  into  bold  exercise. 

"  Very  well !  It  is  in  your  choice  to  accede  to  my  propo 
sitions,  or  not.  A  share  in  all  that  I  have  is  yours;  not 


HUSKS.  207 

only  during  the  child's  life,  but  as  long  as  you  live.  Before 
I  leave  America,  I  shall  deposit  for  you  in  your  father's 
bank  a  sum  which,  I  hope,  you  will  find  sufficient  to  main 
tain  you  in  comfort.  Your  father  will  be  my  executor  in 
this  matter.  I  shall  not  confide  to  him  the  peculiar  circum 
stances  of  my  departure,  leaving  you  at  liberty  to  act  in 
this  respect,  as  in  every  thing  else,  according  to  the  dictates 
of  your  will  and  pleasure.  At  the  end  of  a  certain  term  of 
years  specified  by  law,  you  can,  if  you  wish,  procure  a 
divorce,  on  the  ground  of  my  wilful  and  continued  desertion 
of  you ;  in  which  case,  the  provision  for  your  support  will 
remain  unchanged.  As  to  the  child — the  mother's  is  the 
strongest  claim.  I  shall  never  take  her  from  you.  Do  not 
let  me  keep  you  up  longer.  It  is  late !" 

With  a  silent  inclination  of  the  head,  she  withdrew,  and 
he  cast  himself  upon  the  sofa,  there  to  lie  during  the  few 
hours  of  the  night  that  were  yet  unspent. 

He  had  arisen,  and  was  standing  at  the  window  when 
Sarah  entered  in  the  morning.  But  for  the  dark  shadows 
under  the  eyes,  and  the  tight-drawn  look  about  the  mouth, 
she  appeared  as  usual ;  and  her  "  Good-morning,"  if  cold, 
was  yet  polite. 

"  I  imagine,"  she  said,  as  the  gong  clashed  out  its  second 
call,  "that  you  wish  me  to  accompany  you  to  breakfast, 
and  to  preserve  my  ordinary  manner  towards  you  when 
others  are  by.  Am  I  right  ?" 

"  You  are.  This  is  all  I  ask.  The  effort  will  not  be  a 
tedious  one.  I  leave  here  at  noon." 

Arm  in  arm  they  directed  their  steps  towards  the  great 
dining-hall — to  the  view  of  the  spectator  as  comfortable 
and  happy  a  pair  as  any  that  pursued  that  route  on  that 
summer  morning.  Together  they  sat  down  at  table,  and 
Mr.  Hammond  ordered  "his  lady's"  breakfast  with  his 
own.  Mrs.  Hunt  bustled  in  shortly  after  they  were  seated, 


208  HUSKS. 

full  of  wonderment  at  having  heard  from  Sarah's  maid  of 
her  master's  unexpected  arrival;  while  Jeannie  gave  his 
hand  a  squeeze  as  hearty  as  was  the  welcome  in  her  smiling 
face.  The  Bensons  were  always  late.  So  much  the  better. 
There  were  more  people  present  to  observe  the  cordial 
meeting  between  the  brothers-in-law,  made  the  more  con 
spicuous  by  Philip's  surprise.  The  genuineness  of  his  good 
spirits,  his  easy,  unembarrassed  manner,  was  the  best  veil 
that  could  have  been  devised  for  Sarah's  constraint  and 
Lewis's  counterfeit  composure. 

It  did  not  escape  Philip's  eye  that  Sarah  ate  nothing,  and 
spoke  only  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  singularity ;  and  he 
believed  that  he  had  discovered  the  origin  of  her  trouble 
when  Lewis  communicated  his  purpose  of  foreign  travel. 
When  the  burst  of  surprise  subsided,  the  latter  tried  suc 
cessfully  to  represent  his  plan  as  a  business  necessity. 
Lucy,  who  never  saw  an  inch  beyond  her  nose — morally  and 
mentally  speaking — except  when  her  intuitions  were 
quickened  by  self-love,  was  the  questioner  most  to  be 
dreaded. 

"Why  don't  you  go  with  him?"  she  inquired  of  her 
sister.  "  He  should  not  stir  one  step  without  me,  if  I  were 
in  your  place.  Only  think !  you  might  spend  six  months 
in  Paris !" 

"  How  would  Baby  Belle  relish  a  sea  voyage !"  returned 
Sarah. 

"  Nonsense !  How  supremely  silly !  One  would  supposp 
that  she  was  the  only  member  of  the  family  whose  comfort 
was  to  be  consulted.  Rather  than  expose  her  to  the  possi 
bility  of  inconvenience,  you  will  deprive  yourself  of  profit 
and  pleasure,  and  be  separated  from  your  husband  for  nobody 
knows  how  long.  This  shows  how  much  these  model  mar 
ried  people  really  care  for  one  another.  When  put  to  the 
test  they  are  no  better  than  we  poor  sinners,  whom  every- 


HUSKS. 


209 


body  calls  flirts.     Phil,  are  those  muffins  warm  ?     This  one 
of  mine  has  grown  cold  while  I  was  talking." 

"  How  are  'the  horses,  Benson  ?"  inquired  Lewis.  "  Have 
they  been  exercised  regularly  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  are  in  capital  order.  You  could  have  left  us 
no  more  acceptable  reminder  of  yourself  than  those  same 
fine  bays." 

"If  you  have  no  other  engagement,  suppose  we  have 
them  up  before  the  light  carriage  after  breakfast,  and  take 
a  short  drive." 

"Agreed,  with  all  my  heart!  unless  Mrs.  Hammond 
quarrels  with  me  for  robbing  her  of  a  portion  of  your  last 
morning  with  her." 

"  She  will  forgive  you !"  Lewis  rejoined,  to  spare  her  the 
effort  of  reply. 

From  her  window  Sarah  saw  them  whirl  off  along  the 
beach  in  sight  of  the  hundreds  of  spectators  on  the  sands 
and  about  the  hotels,  and  recognized  the  ingenuity  of  this 
scheme  for  proclaiming  the  amicable  feeling  between  the 
two. 

"But  one  more  scene,  and  the  hateful  mockery  is  over  !" 
thought  the  wife,  as  she  heard  her  husband's  step  outside 
the  door  on  his  return. 

She  snatched  a  paper  from  the  table,  and  seemed  absorbed 
in  its  contents,  not  looking  up  at  his  entrance.  Lewis  made 
several  turns  through  the  room,  sighed  heavily,  and  once 
paused,  as  if  about  to  address  her,  but  changed  his  mind. 

Then  sounded  from  without  the  fresh,  gurgling  laugh  of 
a  child,  and  the  nurse  came  in  with  the  baby — rosy  and 
bright — from  her  morning  walk  on  the  shore.  She  almost 
sprang  from  Mary's  hold  at  sight  of  her  father,  and  dis 
missing  the  woman  with  a  word,  he  took  his  darling  into 
his  arms,  and  sat  down  behind  his  wife.  Inflexibly  sullen, 
Sarah  tried  not  to  listen,  as  she  would  not  see  them ;  but 


210  HUSKS. 

she  heard  every  sound :  the  child's  soft  coo  of  satisfaction 
as  she  nestled  in  the  father's  bosom ;  the  many  kisses  he  im 
printed  upon  her  pure  face  and  mouth  with  what  agony  Sarah 
well  knew — the  irregular  respiration,  sometimes  repressed, 
until  its  breaking  forth  was  like  sobs;  and  the  proud, 
miserable  heart  confessed  reluctantly  that,  in  one  respect, 
his  share  of  their  divided  lot  was  heavier  than  hers.  She 
was  not  to  witness  his  final  resignation  of  his  idol.  Under 
color  of  summoning  Mary,  he  carried  the  infant  from  the 
room,  and  came  back  without  her. 

"  It  is  time  for  me  to  go  now,  Sarah  !" 

His  voice  was  calm,  and  its  firmness  destroyed  what 
slender  encouragement  she  might  have  drawn  from  the 
scene  with  his  child,  to  hope  for  some  modification  of  his 
resolution. 

"  Will  you  write  to  me,  at  regular  intervals,  to  give  me 
news  of  Belle  ?" 

"  Certainly,  if  such  is  your  wish." 

"  And  yourself?  you  will  be  careful  of  your  health,  will 
you  not  ?  And,  if  I  can  ever  serve  you  in  any  way,  you 
will  let  me  know  ?" 

"  It  is  not  likely  that  you  can ;  thank  you." 

There  was  a  silence  of  some  moments.  Sarah  stood 
playing  with  the  tassel  of  her  morning  robe,  pale  and  com 
posed. 

"  Sarah !"  Lewis  took  her  hand.  "  We  have  both  been 
hasty,  both  violent !  Unfeeling  as  you  think  me,  and  as  I 
may  have  seemed  in  this  affair,  believe  me  that  it  almost 
kills  me  to  part  from  you  so  coldly.  It  is  not  like  me  to 
retract  a  determination,  but  if  you  will  say  now  what  you 
did  last  night — '  Do  not  go !'  I  will  stay,  and  be  as  good  a 
husband  to  you  as  I  can.  Shall  we  not  forgive,  and  try  to 
forget  ?" 

The  demon  of  resentful  pride  was  not  so  easily  exorcised. 


HUSKS.  211 

At  a  breath  of  repentance — a  suggestion  of  compromise, 
the  fell  legion  rallied  an  impregnable  phalanx.  She  was 
frozen,  relentless ;  her  eyes,  black  and  haughty,  met  his 
with  an  answer  her  tongue  could  not  have  framed  in  words. 
"  I  have  nothing  to  say !" 

"  '  Nothing !'      The   ocean   must  then   separate   us  for 
years — it  may  be  forever !" 

"  It  was  your  choice.     I  will  not  reverse  it." 
"  Not  if  you  knew  that  if  you  let  me  go  I  would  never 
return  ?" 

"Not  if  I  knew  that  you  would  never  return  1" 
Without  another  word,  without  a  farewell  look,  or  the 
hand-grasp  mere  strangers  exchange,  he  left  her  there — the 
stony  monument  of  her   ill- directed    life    and    affections ; 
the  victim  of  a  worldly  mother  and  a  backbiting  tongue ! 


212  HUSKS 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  How  gay  Mrs.  Hammond  has  grown  lately  !"  said  Mrs. 
Greyling,  the  fashionable  critic  of  the House  drawing- 
room.  "  Do  you  see  that  she  is  actually  waltzing  to-night  ? 
She  moves  well,  too  !  That  pearl-colored  moire  antique  is 
handsome,  and  must  have  cost  every  cent  of  nine  dollars  a 
yard.  She  is  partial  to  heavy  silks,  it  seems.  It  gives  an 
air  of  sameness  to  her  dress  ;  otherwise  she  shows  very  tol 
erable  taste." 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that  she  was  a  regular  dowdy  before 
she  was  married,"  observed  Mrs.  Parton,  who  was  also  on 
the  "  committee  of  censure" — a  self-appointed  organization, 
which  found  ample  employment  in  this  crowded  nest  of 
pleasure-seekers.  "  Her  husband  is  perpetually  making  her 
presents,  and  she  dresses  to  please  him." 

"  Humph  !  I  distrust  these  pattern  couples  !  '  My  husband 
doesn't  approve  of  my  doing  this — won't  hear  of  my  acting 
so !'  are  phrases  easily  learned,  and  sound  so  fine  that  one 
soon  falls  into  the  habit  of  using  them.  What  a  flirt  Mrs. 
Benson  is!  That  is  the  fifth  young  man  she  has  danced 
with  this  evening.  I  pity  her  husband  and  baby !" 

"  He  does  not  look  inconsolable !  I  tell  you  what  my  no 
tion  is :  he  may  love  his  wife — of  course  he  does — but  he 
admires  her  sister  more.  See  how  he  watches  her  !  Mrs. 
Tomes,  told  me  that  she  was  standing  near  him  the  first  time 
Mrs.  Hammond  waltzed,  and  that  he  seemed  real  worried. 
When  the  set  was  through,  she  came  to  look  for  a  seat,  and 


HUSKS.  213 

he  got  one  for  her.  As  she  took  it,  he  said  something  to 
her  which  Mrs.  Tomes  could  not  hear,  but  she  laughed  out 
in  his  face  as  saucy  as  could  be,  and  said  :  '  Oh,  I  am  learning 
when  I  am  in  Rome  to  do  as  Romans  do  !  Doesn't  my  elder 
sister  set  me  the  example  ?*  " 

"  He  could  say  nothing  then,"  said  Mrs.  Greyling.  "  Those 
girls  played  their  cards  well.  The  Hunts  have  very  little, 
if  any  thing,  besides  the  father's  salary,  and  the  family  was 
very  obscure." 

Mrs.  Greyling's  paternal  progenitor  was  an  opulent  soap 
boiler,  who  was  not  ashamed,  during  her  childhood,  to  drive 
an  unsavory  cart  from  one  kitchen  door  to  another.  But  he 
counted  his  thousands  now  by  the  hundred,  and  his  children 
ranked,  as  a  consequence,  among  the  "  upper  ten." 

She  continued  her  charitable  remarks :  "  Somehow  the  old 
lady  contrived  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  wealth,  and 
married  both  daughters  off  before  their  second  season.  Mr. 
Benson  is  reputed  to  be  rich  ;  but  for  that  matter  these 
Southern  planters  are  all  said  to  be  rolling  in  gold.  Mr. 
Hammond  is  certainly  making  money.  Mr.  Greyling  says 
he  is  a  splendid  business  man." 

"He  sailed  for  Europe  a  week  ago,  you  know." 

"  Yes ;  and  since  then  madame  has  been  the  belle  of  the 
ball.  The  old  story — c  When  the  cat  is  away,  the  mice  will 
play.' " 

"  Sarah,"  said  Philip,  an  hour  later,  "  will  you  walk  on 
the  balcony  with  me  ?  You  are  heated,  and  the  air  is  balmy 
as  Georgian  breezes.  It  will  do  you  good." 

"  Are  you  going  to  scold  me  ?"  she  asked,  archly,  before 
she  would  take  his  arm. 

"No.  I  have  no  right  to  do  it  if  I  had  the  disposi 
tion." 

There  was  no  moon ;  but  the  sky  was  strewed  thickly 
with  stars,  and  the  white  foam  of  the  surf  caught  and  held 


HUSKS. 

tremulously  the  sparkles  from  the  bright  watchers  above. 
Philip  did  not  appear  disposed  to  converse,  and  Sarah 
waited  for  him.  to  begin.  Meanwhile,  they  strolled  on  and 
on,  until  the  murmur  of  the  ocean  was  louder  than  the 
music  of  the  saloon  band.  The  sea  moaned  to  the  stars,  as 
it  had  done  to  the  sunless  July  heavens  on  that  day  so 
memorable  in  the  history  of  one  of  the  pair — the  day  of 
shipwreck  stories  and  a  real  shipwreck — none  the  less 
disastrous,  that  the  treasures  and  their  loss  were  hidden 
from  all  but  the  bereaved  one. 

To  many  it  is  appointed  to  lead  two  lives :  to  think  and 
feel  as  well  as  to  act  a  double  part ;  to  separate,  as  inexorably 
as  human  will  can  decree,  past  hopes  and  joys — past  sorrows, 
and,  if  practicable,  past  memories  from  the  thoughts  and 
emotions  of  the  to-day  in  which  they  exist.  Thousands 
keep  up  the  barrier  until  death  ends  the  need  of  watchfulness 
and  labor ;  the  coffin-lid  covers  the  faithful  mask  that  has 
smiled  so  patiently  and  so  long  above  an  aching  heart. 
Yet  dammed  up  passion  is  a  dangerous  thing.  If  hearts 
were  so  constituted  that  they  could  be  drained  like  pestilen 
tial  marshes,  the  flood  conducted  off  in  harmless  and  straight 
channels,  then,  indeed,  might  hypocrisy  rejoice,  and  sleek 
decorum  sit  down  at  ease.  As  it  is,  genteel  propriety  and 
refined  reticence  are  perpetully  endangered  by  the  unfore 
seen  swell  of  some  intermittent  spring,  or  the  thawing  of 
some  ice-bound  stream,  that  is  liable  to  overleap  or  tear 
away  the  dike — ingulfing  in  an  instant  the  elaborate  struc 
tures  years  of  toil  have  cheaply  purchased. 

Such  was  the  moment  when,  withdrawing  her  hand  from 
Philip's  arm,  Sarah  struck  suddenly — fiercely — upon  her 
breast,  and  cried  :  "  Oh  !  why  cannot  I  die  and  end  this  mis 
ery!" 

"  Sarah !" 

"  I  say  I  can  bear  it  no  longer !     Others  do  not  suffer  thus ! 


HUSKS.  215 

[f  they  do,  they  die,  or  lose  their  reason.  I  will  not  endure 
it,  I  tell  you  !" 

"  Sister  !" 

"  Do  not  call  me  by  that  name,  Philip  Benson !  You 
know  better !" 

She  leaned  forward  on  the  balcony  railing,  her  eyes  fixed 
3n  the  sea.  Her  deep,  hurried  breathing  was  like  the  pant 
D£  some  worried  animal,  gathering  strength,  and,  with  it, 
sourage  for  renewed  conflict.  To  her  last  words  the  mys 
terious  plaint  of  the  sea  lent  meaning.  Philip,  too,  remem 
bered  that  barren  shore,  the  tumbling  breakers,  the  solitary 
sea-bird's  labored  flight  landward.  Was  this  his  work  ?  It 
was  but  a  flicker  of  truth — dashed  out  the  next  second  by  a 
blow  of  indignant  will. 

"  You  may  forbid  me  to  address  you  by  this  title,  Sarah  ; 
but  you  cannot  hinder  me  from  sympathizing  in  your  sorrow, 
and  trying  to  befriend  you.  If  my  companionship  is  unwel 
come,  allow  me  to  conduct  you  to  your  room.  I  cannot 
leave  you  alone  here,  where  there  is  continual  passing." 

"  You  are  right.  Regard  for  appearances  is  the  one  thing 
needful,"  she  said,  mockingly.  "  I  must  be  a  dull  scholar, 
if  I  have  not  learned  that.  I  am  sane  again  now — fit  to  as 
sociate  with  other  sane  people.  If  you  please,  we  will  go  to 
the  ball-room  instead  of  up-stairs.  I  am  not  a  candidate  for 
solitary  confinement  yet !" 

"  Mrs.  Hammond,  I  heard  a  gentleman  inquiring  anxious 
ly  for  you  just  now!"  called  out  a  lady,  in  passing.  "He 
said  that  you  promised  to  dance  with  him." 

"  I  did.  Thank  you  for  reminding  me.  A  little  faster, 
my  good  brother !" 

She  hurried  him  into  the  saloon,  where  they  were  met 
immediately  by  her  would-be  partner.  Philip,  bewildered 
and  uneasy,  watched  her  motions  through  the  evolutions  of 
the  dance.  She  talked  rapidly  and  animatedly,  keeping  her 


216  HUSKS. 

cavalier  in  a  broad  smile,  and  confirming  her  lately  won 
reputation  of  a  wit.  Her  eyes  shone ;  her  color  was  high ;  she 
was  "  really  handsome" — as  the  "  censure  committee"  had 
occasion  to  remember  at  a  later  day,  when  it  was  spoken  of 
in  a  very  different  tone  from  that  employed  by  a  member  of 
the  distinguished  sisterhood  in  addressing  Mrs.  Hunt  on  this 
night. 

"You  are  a  fortunate  mother,  my  dear  madam,  to  have 
two  such  brilliant  daughters.  They  eclipse  the  girls  en 
tirely." 

"  I  have  nothing  to  complain  of  in  my  children,  ma'am. 
I  done — I  did  my  best  by  them,  and  they  have  repaid  me  a 
thousandfold." 

"  Now,  I  am  ready  !"  said  Sarah  to  her  brother-in-law. 
"  I  release  you,  Mr.  Burley  !"  waving  her  hand  to  her  late 
attendant  as  a  princess  might  to  a  courtier. 

Vexed  and  disturbed  by  her  unsettled  manner  and  queer 
freaks,  Philip  gave  her  his  arm,  and  conducted  her  through 
the  throng. 

"  Lewis  has  had  fair  winds,  and  must  now  be  nearing  the 
end  of  his  voyage,"  he  remarked,  as  they  sauntered  along 
the  piazza. 

"  Ah  !  he  is  on  the  sea  to-night !  How  strange !  I  had 
not  thought  of  that !" 

"  I  see  nothing  wonderful  in  the  idea,  as  he  has  not  had 
time  to  cross  the  Atlantic  since  he  left  these  shores,"  return 
ed  Philip,  dryly.  "  The  oddest  thing  I  can  think  of  at  pres 
ent  is  yourself,  Sarah !" 

"  I  am  aware  of  that,  Philip.  Do  not  speak  harshly  to 
me  !  You  may  be  sorry  for  it  some  day." 

They  were  at  her  door.  Her  softened  manner  moved  him, 
and  as  she  offered  her  hand,  he  took  it  with  fraternal  warmth.  • 

"  Forgive  me,  if  I  was  rough !  I  have  not  understood 
you  this  evening." 


HUSKS.  217 

"  It  is  not  likely  that  you  ever  will.  Time  was — but  it  is 
folly  to  allude  to  that  now  !  Think  of  me  as  kindly  as  you 
can — will  you  ?  You  have  wounded  me  sometimes,  but 
never  knowingly.  I  cannot  say  that  of  many  others  with 
whom  I  have  had  dealings.  Good-night." 

The  little  parlor  was  still.  Mrs.  flammond  never  kept 
her  maid  up  to  assist  in  her  disrobing,  if  she  intended  re 
maining  out  until  a  late  hour.  Nurse  and  child  were  quiet 
in  the  adjacent  nursery.  Closing  the  door  of  communication, 
Sarah  stripped  her  hair  and  arms  of  their  ornaments ;  took 
off  her  diamond  pin,  then  her  rings,  and  laid  them  away  in 
her  jewelry  case ;  divested  herself  of  her  rich  dress,  and  drew 
from  her  wardrobe  a  plain,  dark  wrapper,  which  she  put  on. 
Next  she  sat  down  at  her  writing-desk,  selected  a  sheet  of 
paper,  and  wrote  a  single  line — when  a  thought  struck  her, 
and  she  stopped.  A  momentary  irresolution  ended  in  her 
tearing  off  a  strip  containing  what  she  had  penned,  and 
holding  it  in  the  flame  of  the  lamp  until  it  was  consumed. 
"  Best  not !  best  not !"  she  muttered.  "  Doubt  may  bring 
comfort  to  the  one  or  two  who  will  need  it.  Let  them 
doubt !  Save  appearances  if  you  can,  my  poor  mother 
would  say."  A  smile  of  unutterable  scorn  glimmered  over 
her  face.  She  pushed  away  the  desk  and  walked  to  the 
window. 

From  the  distant  ball-room  the  throbbing  waves  of  music 
still  rolled  past  on  the  summer  air,  and  blent  with  them 
was  the  solemn  undertone  of  the  surf.  Did  men  call  its 
mighty  voice  a  monotone  ?  To  her  it  was  eloquent  of  many 
and  awful  things — not  frightful.  What  was  there  of  terror 
in  thoughts  of  rest,  endless  sleep,  rocked  for  ages  by  the 
rising  and  falling  tide,  hushed  into  dreamless  repose  by  the 
music  of  the  billows  ?  No  more  of  a  vain  and  wearisome 
life ;  no  more  baffled  aspirations  and  crushed  affections ;  no 
more  disheartening  attempts  to  find  and  reach  the  right — 
10 


218  HUSKS. 

to  follow  in  the  steep,  rugged  path  of  duty,  and  shun  the 
easy,  alluring  way  to  which  heart  and  memory  were  ever 
pointing  ;  no  more  of  stern  rebuke  and  sneering  taunt ;  no 
more  galled  pride  and  outraged  womanhood ;  no  more 
lying  gayety,  smiles,  and  repartee,  when  the  spirit  was 
writhing  in  impotent  agony,  longing  to  shriek  out  its  inten 
sity  of  woe !  Only  sleep,  rest,  peace  ! 

"  Sleep !  rest !  peace !"  She  gasped  the  words  feverishly, 
as  they  seemed  to  come  to  her  on  the  breeze.  Might  she 
not  seek  these  now  !  now  !  Not  yet !  The  grounds,  the 
beach  were  still  populous  with  groups  of  strollers.  She 
would  be  seen — perhaps  recognized — probably  frustrated 
in  her  purpose.  Leaning  her  head  against  the  casement, 
she  sat  there  an  hour — not  debating,  still  less  wavering  in 
her  resolve,  only  waiting  until  flight  would  be  safe — and 
thinking !  thinking !  thinking !  until  her  brain  whirled. 

A  thwarted,  warped,  disjointed  existence  had  hers  been 
from  its  beginning.  Denied  food  suitable  for  her  mental 
and  spiritual  need ;  denied  sympathy,  air,  and  expression  of 
suffering  ;  under  the  slow  torture  of  this  starvation,  every 
avenue  to  goodness  and  liberty  hedged  up,  and,  for  the 
future,  temptation,  repudiation,  loneliness,  perhaps  a  sullied 
name — who  could  dispute  her  right  to  try  release  by  one 
brief  pang  she  alone  could  feel  ?  Who  would  miss  her  ? 
Not  the  world  that  flattered  her  wealth  and  wit,  her  laces, 
silks,  and  diamonds ;  not  the  mother  and  sister  who  wor 
shipped  the  gilded  Juggernaut  "  Society ;"  not  he  who  was 
that  night  sleeping  soundly  on  the  same  sea  that  would  em 
bosom  her  in  her  sweeter,  deeper  slumber.  Shocked  he 
might  be  at  an  event  so  unexpected  and  uncommon.  His 
next  sensation  would  be  a  relief  at  his  deliverance  from  a 
burden,  at  his  freedom  to  come  and  go  as  he  liked — no 
longer  banished  by  her  obstinacy  and  his  own.  He  had 
loved  her  as  most  other  men  do  their  wives — a  bond 


HUSKS.  219 

too  weak  to  bear  a  heavy  blow  at  their  self-love.    She  had 
sinned  beyond  forgiveness  in  his  eyes. 

Of  Philip  she  thought  with  a  mingling  of  tenderness  and 
resentment.  His  unthinking  gallantry  had  been  the  root 
of  her  sorest  trouble ;  but  it  was  unthinking,  not  wilful 
wrong.  Nor^  was  she  the  only  sufferer.  His  heart  was 
well-nigh  as  hungry  as  hers.  Within  the  past  week,  she  had 
seen  this  more  clearly  than  ever  before,  and  he  had  felt  it ! 
Lucy's  narrow  mind,  her  insipidity,  her  inordinate  vanity, 
her  selfish  idolatry  of  pleasures  that  wearied  him ;  her  'dis 
relish  for  intellectual  and  domestic  enjoyments,  displayed  in 
its  most  objectionable  form,  in  her  indifference  to  his  com 
pany,  and  her  neglect  of  her  child — these  were  working  out 
their  legitimate  result  in  his  alienation  from  her,  and  attrac 
tion  towards  the  once  slighted  sister,  whose  large  heart  and 
mental  gifts  he  now  valued  at  their  true  worth.  To  repel 
him,  as  much  as  to  drown  her  cares,  Sarah  had  plunged 
into  the  vortex  she  had  heretofore  avoided.  She  had  heard 
that  there  was  temporary  solace  in  this  species  of  dissipa 
tion.  The  cup  was,  for  her,  sparkleless  and  bitter,  from 
surface  to  dregs. 

She  was  saving  him  with  herself  by  this  final  step  !  He 
would  realize  this  truth,  in  the  throe  that  would  shake  his 
soul  when  he  found  that  she  was  gone ;  perhaps,  even  in 
that  anguished  hour,  would  bless  her  for  having  showed  to 
him,  while  she  drove  him  back  from,  the  abyss  they  were 
together  approaching.  It  was  no  idle  vaunt  she  had  made 
to  Lewis,  that  the  principles  inherited  from  her  father  would 
save  her  from  overt  sin.  Thus,  thus  would  she  flee  the 
temptation,  when  the  heart  had  left  the  will  to  battle 
unaided. 

Her  father  !  the  gray  old  man  who  was  toiling  through 
this  summer's  hea,t,  in  his  deserted  home,  as  he  had  through 
so  many  summers  gone !  he  who  had  never  given  her  an 


220  HUSKS. 

impatient  or  angry  word — whose  pride  and  joy  she  still 
was !  The  stroke  would  be  severe  upon  him.  Yet  he 
would  not  refuse  comfort.  There  were  still  left  to  him  his 
boys — fine,  manly  fellows  ;  Jeannie  and  his  baby  grandchild 
— his  lost  daughter's  gift.  Tears  rushed  into  the  hot,  wild 
eyes  with  this  last  image,  but  she  would  not  let  them  flow. 

"Is  it  not  better  that  I  should  leave  her  now,  when  the 
parting  will  give  her  no  pain,  when  one  little  week  will 
blot  out  my  memory  entirely  from  her  mind,  than  to  wait 
until  she  can  recollect  and  miss  me  ?" 

The  music  had  ceased.  The  revellers  had  dropped  away 
faster  than  they  had  collected,  when  once  the  movement 
was  made  to  retire.  The  murmur  of  the  deep  was  the 
only  sound  abroad ;  the  stars  were  the  only  sentinels. 
Sarah  arose,  threw  a  shawl  over  her  head,  and  cautiously  un 
locked  the  door.  A  strong  rush  of  air  blew  it  from  her  hold, 
and  as  she  caught  it,  to  draw  it  after  her,  she  trod  upon 
some  object  lying  on  the  floor.  Mechanically  she  stooped 
to  pick  it  up.  It  was  an  infant's  shoe,  a  dainty  little  gaiter, 
that  peeped,  during  the  day,  from  beneath  Baby  Belle's 
white  skirt.  To  Sarah's  touch  it  seemed  that  the  lining 
still  retained  the  warmth  of  the  child's  foot. 

Never,  oh,  never,  was  the  patter  of  those  baby  feet  to 
make  glad  music  for  the  mother's  ear !  Others  must  guide 
and  sustain  her  trial  steps ;  others  smooth  her  daily  path ; 
others  direct  the  inexperience  of  the  girl  in  the  perilous 
passes  where  that  mother  had  fallen  and  perished  ! 

"  Oh,  may  I  not  bless  her  before  I  leave  her  forever  ?" 
she  cried  to  stern  Resolution.  And  Conscience  rejoined, 
with  meaning  severity :  "  Is  it  you  who  would  breathe  a 
blessing  above  her  purity  ?" 

"  Suffer  me,  then,  to  take  the  farewell  look  I  dared  not 
grant  myself  before !" 

And  while  Resolution  faltered  at  the  impassioned  appeal, 


HUSKS.  221 

she  opened  the  nursery  door  and  stole  to  the  side  of  the 
crib.  The  night-lamp  shed  a  feeble  halo  over  the  table 
whereon  it  stood.  The  rest  o'f  the  room  was  in  darkness. 
Mary's  light  bedstead  was  close  to  the  crib.  Was  hers 
that  hard,  short  breathing,  that  sent  a  start  and  chill 
through  the  hearer  ?  A  touch  to  the  lamp  threw  a  blaze 
of  light  over  nurse  and  child.  A  sharp  cry  rang  through 
the  chamber. 

"  Mary !  Mary !  get  up  !" 

The  girl  sprang  to  the  floor  before  she  comprehended  the 
meaning  of  the  alarm.  Mrs.  Hammond  had  sunk  into  a 
chair  beside  the  crib,  from  which  she  had  snatched  her 
infant.  Baby  Belle's  head  was  strained  back;  her  hands 
clenched;  her  limbs  stiffened  in  a  deathlike  spasm.  The 
eyes  were  rolled  out  of  sight  under  the  lids ;  and  the  four 
little  teeth — her  "  most  precious  pearls,"  the  fond  mother 
had  called  them — were  hard-locked  within  the  purple  lips. 

Terrified  as  she  was,  Mary  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
run  for  assistance.  Mrs.  Hunt  and  a  physician  were  soon 
on  the  spot,  and  every  appliance  of  the  healing  art  that 
promised  relief  to  the  sufferer  was  used,  but  with  partial 
effect.  Sarah  saw  nothing  but  the  child ;  heard  nothing 
but  the  doctor's  calm  orders. 

"  You  do  not  try  to  help  her !"  she  said,  impatiently,  as 
a  convulsion,  more  fearful  than  any  that  had  preceded  it, 
seized  the  delicate  frame. 

"  I  could  not  do  more,  were  it  my  own  child,  madam  !" 

He  was  an  elderly  man,  whose  charity  for  fashionable 
mothers  was  very  scant,  and,  having  seen  Mrs.  Hammond 
in  the  ball-room  the  evening  before,  he  was  not  prepared 
for  the  solicitude  she  manifested. 

"You  had  better  let  the  nurse  take  her  !"  he  said,  more 
gently,  as  Sarah,  with  difficulty,  held  down  the  struggling 
hands  that  might  do  hurt  to  the  head  and  face. 


222  HUSKS. 

"  No !     I  will  have  no  one  touch  her  but  myself !" 

The  morning  broke,  the  day  heightened  into  noon,  and 
the  paroxysms  only  abated  in  violence  as  the  babe's 
strength  declined.  Steadfast  to  her  word,  the  mother  had 
not  once  resigned  her.  She  had  herself  immersed  her  in 
the  warm  baths,  applied  the  poultices,  and  administered  the 
medicines  prescribed.  Mrs,  Hunt  was  compassionate  and 
active ;  Mary  sorrowful,  and  prompt  with  whatever  service 
she  could  perform  ;  Lucy  frightened  and  idle. 

Philip,  who  had  often  been  in  the  outer  room  to  make 
inquiries  and  offer  aid,  if  any  were  required  of  him,  was 
told,  just  before  sunset,  that  he  could  go  into  the 
chamber.  Mrs.  Hunt  invited  him,  and  the  information  she 
added  gave  to  his  countenance  a  look  of  heartfelt  sadness 
as  he  followed  her.  Sarah  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
so  altered  that  he  could  scarcely  credit  the  fact  of  her  iden 
tity  with  the  being  he  had  parted  from  the  previous  night. 
Her  eyes  were  sunken,  her  features  sharpened,  and  her 
complexion  had  the  dead,  grayish  hue  of  an  old  woman's : 
In  her  arms  lay  the  babe,  and,  as  she  crouched  over  it,  her 
mien  of  defiant  protection  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  a 
savage  animal  guarding  her  young.  He  could  not  say 
whether  or  not  she  was  aware  of  his  presence,  until  he  knelt 
by  the  dying  child  and  called  it  by  name. 

"Baby  Belle,  do  you  know  Uncle  Philip?" 

The  dark  eyes,  soft  still  through  the  gathering  film, 
moved  slightly,  and  Sarah  said — 

"  Speak  to  her  again !" 

"  Will  Baby  Belle  come  to  uncle?" 

This  time  there  was  no  sign  of  consciousness.  The  wee 
hands  clasped  in  the  mother's  grew  colder  and  colder,  and 
the  breath  fluttered  slowly  through  the  parted  lips.  The 
end  was  near,  and  Philip's  pitying  accent  expressed  his 
sense  of  this. 


HUSKS. 

"  Give  her  to  me,  dear  Sarah  !  It  is  not  right  for  you  to 
keep  her  longer." 

"She  is  mine  I" 

The  glare  that  came  to  her  eye  with  the  three  words 
revealed  a  desperation  that  would  have  done  battle  with 
the  King  of  Terrors,  had  he  appeared  in  visible  shape  to 
claim  his  victim. 

More  faintly,  slowly,  trembled  the  life  over  the  sweet 
mouth,  and  the  hands,  like  waxen  shapes,  lay  pulseless  in  the 
mother's  clasp ;  while  through  the  silent  room  flowed  the 
dirge  of  the  sea.  Shaken  by  the  freshening  breeze  of  even 
ing,  the  shutters  of  the  western  window  swung  ajar,  letting 
in  a  golden  ray  upon  mother  and  child,  and  along  that  path 
of  light  the  untarnished  soul  of  Baby  Belle  was  borne  by  its 
waiting  angel — home  ! 


HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

AUNT  SAEAH  sat  in  the  wide  porch  at  the  back  of  her  house, 
knitting  in  hand.  It  was  a  still,  but  not  oppressive  August 
afternoon.  There  was  not  a  ruffle  on  the  bright  surface  of 
the  river,  and  the  long  meadow  grass  was  as  smoothly  spread 
out  in  the  yellow  sunshine.  From  the  poultry-yard  on  the  left 
arose  a  pleasant  murmur,  and  now  and  then  a  stray  hen  tip 
toed  around  the  end  of  the  house,  singing  idly  as  she  rambled. 
Charley  lay  on  the  green  mound — his  old  reading-room — 
with  a  book  before  him,  and  to  him  Aunt  Sarah's  motherly 
eyes  turned  most  frequently.  Those  kindly  orbs  were  dimmer 
than  they  were  two  summers  ago,  and  the  gentle  face  was  a 
thought  more  pensive.  A  glance  into  the  sitting-room  win 
dow,  from  where  she  sat,  would  have  showed  one  Uncle  Na 
than's  empty  arm-chair  in  the  chimney  corner,  and  above  it 
were  suspended  his  cane  and  broad-brimmed  hat,  just  as  he 
had  put  them  off  when  he  took  his  departure  for  a  country 
where  neither  shelter  nor  staff  is  needed.  Aunt  Sarah's  cap 
had  a  widow's  border  now ;  and  in  her  faithful  heart  there 
was  a  sadder  void  than  the  death  of  her  children  had  crea 
ted — loving  parent  though  she  was — and  yet  more  plentiful 
springs  of  sympathy  for  others  bereaved  and  suffering. 

Her  rocking-chair  was  set  near  the  entrance  of  the  hall 
that  bisected  the  dwelling ;  and  the  front  and  back  doors 
being  open,  she  had  a  fair  view  of  the  public  road,  whenever 
she  chose  to  look  up  the  lane.  The  Shrewsbury  stage  met 
the  boat  at  four  o'clock,  or  soon  after;  and  hearing  a  rumbling 


HUSKS.  225' 

along  the  highway,  which  she  knew  presaged  its  transit 
through  this  end  of  the  village,  the  old  lady  leaned  forward  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  trunks  upon  the  roof ;  this  being  all 
she  could  distinguish  with  certainty  above  the  fence. 

"  Why,  it  is  stopping  here !"  she  ejaculated,  getting  up  to 
obtain  a  better  look.  "  Who  upon  earth  can  it  be  ?" 

The  coach  rolled  on,  and  the  passenger  for  the  farm-house 
came  through  the  gate  and  down  the  lane.  She  was  dressed 
in  black,  wore  a  crape  veil,  and  carried  a  small  hand-trunk. 
With  hospitable  instinct,  Aunt  Sarah  advanced  to  the  front 
porch  to  meet  her,  still  entirely  in  the  dark  as  to  who  it 
could  be." 

"She  has  a  different  look  from  any  of  the  neighbors ;  and 
there's  nobody  in  York  that  would  be  likely  to  come  to  see 
me,  except  Betsey's  people,  and  it  can't  be  either  of  her  girls!" 

At  this  stage  of  her  cogitations,  the  visitant  reached  the 
step  on  which  the  hostess  stood,  and  put  away  the  long  veil 
from  a  face  so  worn  and  seamed  with  grief,  so  hollow-eyed 
and  old, that  the  good  aunt  screamed  outright  in  her  distressed 
astonishment — 

"  Sarah,  dear  child  !  can  this  be  you  ?" 

"  What  I  am  now,  Aunt  Sarah.  May  I  come  in  and  stay 
with  you  a  little  while  ?" 

"  Stay  with  me,  poor  darling  !  As  long  as  you  like,  and 
welcome  !  Come  right  in;  you  don't  look  fit  to  stand!" 

She  was  not ;  for,  now  that  the  necessity  for  exertion  was 
removed,  she  was  faint  and  trembling.  Aunt  Sarah  helped 
her  up-stairs  to  the  room  she  had  occupied  at  her  former  visit, 
undressed  her,  and  put  her  to  bed.  Sarah  submitted  like  a 
child,  too  much  exhausted  to  resist  bemg  made  an  invalid  of, 
or  to  offer  any  explanation  of  her  singular  apparition.  She 
had  not  slept  an  hour  at  a  time  for  many  nights  ;  yet  when 
she  had  drunk  a  cup  of  tea,  and  tried  to  eat  a  bit  of  toast  her 
aunt  prepared  and  brought  up  to  her,  she  fell  into  a  profound 
10* 


226  HUSKS. 

slumber,  which  lasted  until  long  after  sunrise  on  the  follow 
ing  morning.  Unclosing  her  eyes  then,  they  rested  upon  the 
dear  face,  shaded  by  the  widow's  cap,  that  watched  at  her 
bedside.  A  shadowy  phantom  of  a  smile  flitted  over  her 
features  at  the  recognition. 

"  It  was  not  a  dream,  then  ?"  she  said,  languidly.  "  But 
I  have  dreamed  of  you  often,  of  late — every  night  in  which  I 
have  had  any  sleep.  Aunt  Sarah,  I  must  tell  you  why  I  came 
to  you !" 

"  Not  now,  dear,"  Aunt  Sarah  hastened  to  say,  seeing  the 
wild  stare  and  the  cloud  return  to  her  countenance.  "Wait 
until  you  are  stronger.  I  will  bring  up  your  breakfast,  and 
when  you  have  eaten  it,  you  may  try  to  dress,  if  you  like. 
There  will  be  time  enough  for  your  story,  by  and  by.  Char 
ley  is  in  a  great  fidget  to  see  you." 

Sarah  submitted  to  the  delay ;  but  it  was  plain  that  she 
was  not  satisfied  with  it,  and  that  her  mind  would  be  easier 
when  once  the  tale  was  told.  Aunt  Sarah  hindered  her  no 
longer  a  time  than  sufficed  for  her  to  take  the  much  needed 
refreshment,  to  bathe  and  dress,  and  to  see  and  exchange  a 
few  sentences  with  Charley,  who  supported  her  down  to  the 
sitting-room.  There,  resting  among  the  pillows  of  the 
lounge,  Aunt  Sarah  beside  her,  with  the  ubiquitous  knit 
ting-work  in  hand,  lest  too  close  observation  should  con 
fuse  her  niece,  the  stricken  one  unfolded  the  whole  o*f  her 
sad  history. 

]STo  more  affecting  proof  could  have  been  given  of  her 
prostrated  mind  and  will  than  this  unreserved  recital.  The 
secret  she  had  sold  conscience  and  liberty  to  preserve,  she 
communicated  now  without  a  blush.  Here — where  she 
had  formed  the  intimacy  that  had  shadowed  so  darkly  her 
after  days-^she  detailed  every  step  of  the  wrong  course  to 
which  this  weakness  was  a  key ;  went  over  all — the  stormy 
parting  with  her  husband ;  her  conviction  of  the  mutual 


HUSKS.  227 

peril  she  and  Philip  were  tempting  in  their  daily  com 
munion  ;  her  resolve  of  self-destruction, — as  circumstantially 
as  if  she  were  relating  the  biography  of  another. 

Aunt  Sarah,  horrified  and  pitiful  by  turns,  struggled  with 
indifferent  success  to  maintain  equal  composure,  and 
against  growing  doubts  of  the  narrator's  sanity.  It  was  a 
striking  and  instructive  contrast :  the  world-weary  woman 
returning  for  consolation  and  advice  to  the  simple-minded 
matron,  to  whom  the  artificial  existence  she  now  heard  de 
picted — its  gilded  vices  and  giddy,  round  of  vanities ;  its 
trials  and  temptations — were  a  wonderful,  a  monstrous  tale, 
as  foreign  to  her  sphere  of  principles  and  feelings  as  if  they 
had  transpired  in  another  world.  But  when  Sarah  came  to 
speak  of  her  child,  her  manner  changed,  her  voice  was 
hoarse  and  uneven,  and  over  the  care-worn  visage  there 
went  such  alternations  of  fierceness  and  heart-breaking  sor 
row  that  the  listening  mother,  upon  whose  soul  the  shadow 
of  her  own  childrens'  graves  still  lay  long  and  dark,  could 
hear  no  more  in  silence. 

"  My  poor  girl !"  she  cried,  falling  on  her  knees,  and 
throwing  her  arms  around  the  reclining  figure.  "Dear 
child!  Our  Father  in  Heaven  pity  and  comfort  you  ! 
There  is  no  help  in  man  for  such  trouble  as  yours !" 

Sarah  had  not  shed  a  tear  in  the  course  of  her  story. 
She  said  afterwards  that  she  had  not  wept  since  they  took 
her  dead  baby  from  her  clasp ;  but  at  this  burst  of  un 
feigned  sympathy,  this  gush  of  pure  love  and  compassion, 
the  burning  rocL:  was  cleft,  and  a  blessed  flood  streamed 
from  it.  '  For  some  minutes  they  wept  together  without 
restraint,  and  when  the  more  quiet  grief  of  the  elder 
mourner  was  repressed,  the  other  still  clung,  sobbing,  to 
her  bosom. 

Aunt  Sarah  held  and  soothed  her  as  she  would  have  done  a 
sorrowful  child ;  stroking  away  the  hair  from  her  forehead, 


HUSKS. 


drying  and  kissing  the  tear-stained  cheeks,  with  many  an 
epithet  of  fond  reassurance. 

"  Let  me  finish !  There  is  very  little  more !"  resumed 
Sarah,  keeping  her  aunt's  hand  fast  in  both  of  hers.  "  We 
went  back  to  the  city,  and  the  next  day  we  laid  Tier  in 
Greenwood.  We  stayed  at  father's— -I  would  not  return  to 
the  house  that  used  to  be  mine.  Father  was  very  kind,  and 
mother  meant  to  be ;  but  she  tormented  me  with  sugges 
tions  and  consultations  about  my  black  clothes.  Lucy  was 
piniog  to  get  back  to  Newport.  She  said  it  was  hot  and 
dull  in  New  York.  Philip  wanted  to  comfort  me,  but  I 
shunned  him,  and  I  think  he  was  hurt  by  my  conduct ;  but 
it  was  best,  was  it  not,  Aunt  Sarah  ?" 

"  Certainly,  dear !" 

"  I  had  often  imagined  myself  lonely  before  ;  but  I  never 
dreamed  of  such  a  horror  of  desolation  as  filled  my  soul 
during  the  two  days  that  I  remained  there,  after  all  was 
over.  Twenty  times  each  night  I  would  start  from  a  fever 
ish  doze,  thinking  that  I  heard  my  baby  cry  or  moan,  as 
she  did  in  the  intervals  of  those  awful  convulsions  ;  and 
then  would  come  in  upon  me,  as  if  I  had  never  felt  it  until 
then,  the  truth  that  I  could  never  see  her  again,  and  that 
my  wicked,  wicked  intention  of  deserting  her  had  brought 
this  judgment  upon  me.  I  could  not  stay  there,  Aunt 
Sarah !  I  heard  other  voices  besides  my  child's  in  the  air, 
and  saw  strange,  grinning  faces  in  the  darkness.  But  the 
worst  was  to  see  that,  to  every  one  but  me,  the  world  was  the 
same  that  it  had  ever  been.  Father  looked  grave  when  I 
was  in  his  sight ;  but  the  children  could  laugh  and  talk  as 
if  nothing  had  happened,  and  I  have  seen  mother  and  Lucy 
chatting  merrily  in  the  room  with  the  dressmaker  over  my 
new  dresses,  while  they  were  criticizing  the  crape  trim 
mings.  And  I  had  buried  my  last  earthly  hope  in  my 
baby's  grave !  Then  I  remembered  you,  and  how  you 


HUSKS.  229 

had  talked  to  me  of  your  lost  children,  and  how  you 
had  assured  me  of  a  home  in  your  heart  and  house  when 
ever  I  chose  to  claim  it,  and  I  believed  in  you,  Aunt  Sarah ! 
There  are  not  many  whom  I  do  trust ;  but  I  was  sure  you 
never  said  what  you  did  not  mean.  I  would  not  tell  them 
that  I  was  coming,  for  I  feared  they  would  prevent  me.  I 
slipped  out  of  the  house  when  none  of  them  were  at  home, 
and  went  to  the  nearest  hack-stand,  where  I  got  into  a  car 
riage  and  drove  down  to  the  boat." 

"  My  dear,  did  you  leave  no  letter  to  let  them  know  where 
you  had  gone  ?" 

"  No,  ina'am.  I  was  afraid  they  would  come  or  send  for 
me,  and  I  cannot  go  back." 

"  But  your  father — your  mother !  Did  you  not  think  how 
distressed  they  would  be  when  they  missed  you  ?  And  your 
reputation  ?  What  will  be  said  when  it  is  known  that  you 
have  left  your  father's  house,  and  no  one  knows  where  you 
are  ?  You  are  very  weak  and  tired,  dear ;  but  you  must  sit 
up,  right  away,  and  write  a  note  home.  Tell  them  that  I 
will  take  care  of  you  as  long  as  you  like  to  stay  with  me  ; 
but  don't  lose  a  minute !  You  maybe  in  time  for  the  after 
noon  boat." 

Sarah  obeyed  ;  and  the  careful  old  lady  hurried  Charley 
off  to  the  boat,  with  directions  to  place  the  billet  in  the 
hands  of  the  captain,  who  was  a  personal  friend,  and  could 
be  relied  upon  to  post  it  directly  he  reached  the  city. 

Mr.  Hunt  replied  without  delay.  Sarah's  absence  had  given 
rise  to  the  most  harrowing  conjectures,  made  plausible  by 
her  extreme  melancholy  and  fitful  behavior  since  her  infant's 
death.  The  police  had  been  privately  notified  of  her  dis 
appearance,  and  cautiously  worded  advertisements  inserted 
in  the  papers.  He  regretted  to  add  that  Mr.  Marlow,  who, 
as  Mr.  Hammond's  nearest  friend,  was  informed  of  the  dis 
tressing  occurrence,  had  thought  proper  to  communicate  the 


230  HUSKS. 

intelligence  to  Mr.  H.  before  Sarah's  note  arrived,  and  the 
steamer  bearing  the  letter  had  sailed.  Mr.  Hunt  expressed 
himself  as  entirely  willing  that  his  daughter  should  remain 
in  her  present  retreat  until  her  health  of  mind  and  body  was 
re-established,  but  did  not  conceal  his  disapprobation  of  the 
manner  of  her  leaving  home. 

Aunt  Sarah  looked  concerned  as  she  read  this  epistle, 
which  her  niece  had  passed  over  to  her. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  your  husband,  my  dear.  This  affliction, 
coming  so  close  upon  the  other,  will  be  a  dreadful  blow.  It 
is  a  pity  they  did  not  wait  awhile,  until  they  knew  some 
thing  of  your  whereabouts,  before  writing  to  him," 

"  I  am  more  sorry  that  the  news  must  be  contradicted," 
was  the  reply.  "  As  we  are  now  situated,  the  certainty  of 
my  death  would  be  a  relief  to  him.  This  was  my  reflection 
that  night — "  She  left  the  sentence  unfinished. 

"  My  dear !"  Aunt  Sarah  removed  her  spectacles,  and 
surveyed  her  niece  with  her  kind,  serious  eyes.  "  Have  you 
made  up  your  mind  to  live  separate  from  your  husband  for 
the  rest  of  your  life  ?" 

"  What  else  should  I  do,  aunt  ?  He  will  never  come  back 
unless  I  promise  to  love  him,  and  that  cannot  be." 

"  That  doesn't  alter  the  fact  of  your  duty,  as  I  look  at  it. 
You  ought  to  make  him  an  ofler  to  do  right,  at  any  rate. 
It  would  have,  been  easier  and  pleasanter  to  live  with  him, 
if  you  had  felt  for  him  as  a  woman  should  for  the  man  she 
marries  ;  but  you  are  married  to  him,  and  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  you  ought  to  cleave  to  him,  and  him  only.  That  is  a 
solemn  covenant,  dear — '  for  richer,  for  poorer ;  for  better, 
for  worse !'  4  Those  whom  God  hath  joined  together,  let 
not  man  put  asunder  !'  It  doesn't  excuse  people,  who  take 
these  vows  upon  them  when  the  right  spirit  is  wanting,  that 
they  never  thought  how  awful  the  engagement  was.  Their 
obligations  are  just  the  same,  whether  they  love  or  not." 


HUSKS.  231 

"  The  responsibility  does  not  rest  with  me.  I  performed 
my  duty  while  we  were  together.  The  separation  was  his 
act,  and  he  must  abide  the  consequences.  I  have  erred 
greatly,  Aunt  Sarah ;  but  ever  since  the  night  of  our  rupture, 
my  conscience  has  been  easy  with  respect  to  Mr  Hammond. 
I  confessed  that  I  had  misled  him,  and  begged  his  pardon. 
Could  I  do  more?" 

"  Put  the  case  to  yourself,  child !  Do  not  be  angry  if  I 
speak  out  my  mind,  and  use  against  you  some  things  you 
have  told  me.  When  you  saw  that  Philip  was  growing  to 
like  you  better  and  better,  and  that  you  felt  nearer  to  him 
every  day,  why  did  you  determine  to  die  sooner  than  to 
have  things  go  on  so  ?" 

"  Because  it  would  have  been  a  crime  for  us  to  love  each 
other — infamous  treachery  to  my  sister,  to  his  wife,  for  us  to 
name  the  word  between  us." 

"  And  how  would  Lucy  have  felt,  if  you  had  come  to  an 
understanding  and  spoken  out  the  true  feeling  of  your 
hearts?" 

"  Hers  is  a  careless,  indolent  nature,  but  this  insult  would 
have  aroused  her.  She  would  never  have  forgiven  him  or 
me,  had  she  suspected  a  warmer  sentiment  on  either  side 
than  that  of  friendship." 

"  But  an  honorable,  affectionate  man  like  your  husband, 
who  thought  his  wife  the  most  precious  thing  in  the  world, 
was  to  forget  his  disappointment,  overlook  your  lack  of  love 
and  truth  towards  him,  only  because  you  allowed  that  he 
had  found  out  your  real  feelings  at  last,  and  all  the  excuse 
you  could  give  was  that  you  could  not  help  them  !  You 
were  the  one  in  fault  all  the  way  through,  from  the  day  you 
engaged  to  marry  him,  up  to  the  minute  when  you  would 
not  say  the  word  he  begged  from  you  to  keep  him  at  home. 
It  is  right  that  all  the  advance  should  come  from  you." 

High-spirited  as  Sarah  was,  she  was  not  angered  by  this 


232  HUSKS. 

plain-speaking.  "  Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend ;" 
and  she  felt  that  she  had  but  this  one.  Aunt  Sarah  stu 
died  her  thoughtful  countenance  before  she  renewed'  the 
argument. 

"  I  am  an  old-fashioned  woman,  dear — born  and  bred  in 
the  country,  where,  thank  God  !  I  have  spent  all  my  life. 
But  I've  been  thinking  about  your  story  of  the  way  people 
act  and  feel  up  there  in  York,  and  maybe  in  all  other  great, 
fine,  money-making  cities,  and  my  notion  is  just  this.  I  look 
back  of  their  pushing  and  straining  after  riches,  and  show, 
and  worldly  vanities ;  every  man  for  himself,  and  the  one 
that  climbs  highest,  forgetting  as  soon  as  he  gets  there  that 
he  was  ever  any  lower,  and  ready  to  kick  over  anybody  that 
tries  to  get  alongside  of  him  ;  and  I  see  that  they  have  lost 
sight  of  the  second  great  commandment — '  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself.'  Then  I  look  back  of  this  too,  and 
I  see  where  the  greatest  sin  is,  and — dear,  bear  with  me ! 
I  see  where  you  have  gone  furthest  astray.  Here's  a  pas 
sage  I  was  reading  this  morning  that  tells  the  whole  story." 
She  raised  the  Bible  from  the  table,  and  laid  it  upon  Sarah's 
lap,  pointing  as  she  did  so  to  these  words  enclosed  in  brack 
ets: — 

"  Because  thou  hast  forgotten  the  God  of  thy  salvation, 
and  hast  not  been  mindful  of  the  rock  of  thy  strength,  there 
fore  shalt  thou  plant  pleasant  plants,  and  shalt  set  it  with 
strange  slips.  In  the  day  thou  shalt  make  thy  plant  to  grow, 
and  in  the  morning  shalt  thou  make  thy  seed  to  flourish ; 
but  the  harvest  shall  be  a  heap  in  the  day  of  grief  and  des 
perate  sorrow!" 

Mrs.  Hunt  would  have  regarded  as  an  insult  any  express 
ed  doubt  of  her  religious  principles  and  practice.  She  had 
a  desirable  pew  in  the  fashionable  church  which  was  nearest 
her  residence,  and,  stormy  Sabbaths  excepted,  it  was  gen 
erally  full  at  morning  service.  When  her  children  were 


HUSKS.  233 

presentable  as  to  looks,  very  young  babies  being  seldom 
pretty,  they  were  offered  in  fine  lawn  and  Valenciennes  at 
the  font  for  the  rite  of  baptism;  and  not  a  confirmation  had 
passed  since  her  daughters  were  grown,  that  she  did  not 
fancy  how  interesting  they  would  look,  kneeling  before  the 
surpliced  bishop,  heads  gracefully  bowed,  and  the  regards 
of  the  whole  congregation  fixed  upon  them.  Sarah  never 
could  be  brought  to  the  performance  of  the  commonest  act 
of  public  worship,  unless  it  was  to  rise  with  the  rest,  when 
a  standing  posture  was  prescribed  by  the  prayer-book ;  and 
she  shocked  her  mother  by  declaring  that  she  only  did  this 
because  she  was  tired  of  sitting !  Lucy's  serene  grace  of  de- 
voutness  was  beautiful,  if  not  edifying  to  behold.  Those 
who  occupied  adjacent  pews  involuntarily  suppressed  their 
responses  as  her  mellow  tones  repeated,  with  melancholy 
sweetness — "  Have  mercy  upon  us,  miserable  sinners !"  And 
as  the  melting  cadences  entranced  their  ears,  the  lovely 
penitent  was  speculating  upon  the  probable  cost  of  Miss 
Hauton's  Parisian  hat,  or  coveting  Mrs.  Beau  Monde's  sable 
cloak. 

If  Sarah  had  ever  heard  of  regeneration,  it  was  as  a  tech 
nical  phrase  of  the  church  articles  and  christening  service. 
Of  its  practical  meaning,  its  inward  application,  its  absolute 
necessity  to  the  safety  of  the  soul,  she  had  as  vague  a  con 
ception  as  a  Parsee  or  New  Zealand  cannibal  would  have 
formed.  She  had  read  the  Bible  in  connection  with  rhetori 
cal  lectures,  and  admired  it  as  a  noble  specimen  of  Oriental 
literature.  What  other  associations  could  she  have  with  it  ? 
A  handsome  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  surmounted  by  a 
book  of  common  prayer,  lay  on  a  stand  in  Mrs.  Hunt's  third 
and  rear  parlor,  and  was  dusted  when  a  like  attention  was 
paid  to  the  other  ornaments  of  tables  and  etag&res.  An 
Oxford  edition,  russet  antique,  formed  one  of  the  wedding- 
gifts  of  each  of  the  sisters,  and  in  due  time  was  laid  in  pious 


234  HUSKS. 

pomp  on  its  purple  pillow  in  the  library  corner.  It  was 
hardly  strange,  then,  that  the  quotation,  so  apposite  to  the 
case  in  point,  should  fail  to  impress  her  very  strongly.  Aunt 
Sarah  had  gone  out,  deeming  solitary  reflection  the  best 
means  of  enforcing  the  lesson  she  had  tried  to  inculcate,  and, 
after  re-reading  the  two  verses,  without  further  appropria 
tion  of  their  meaning,  Sarah  turned  leaf  after  leaf  of  the  vol 
ume,  catching  here  and  there  a  sentence  of  the  large  print, 
so  grateful  to  the  failing  sight  of  her  who  was  its  daily 
student. 

"  David  said  unto  his  servants — *  Is  the  child  dead  ?' 
And  they  said,  « He  is  dead  !'  " 

The  smitten  chord  in  the  mother's  heart  sent  out  a  ring 
of  pain,  and  her  listless  hand  paused  upon  the  open  page. 
It  is  a  simple  story— the  royal  parent's  unavailing  wrestle 
with  the  Chastener,  the  dread  end  of  his  suspense,  and  the 
affliction,  made  manifest  in  the  calm  resignation,  the  sancti 
fied  trust  of  the  mourner.  But  when  received  as  Sarah 
read  it,  with  the  vision  of  a  similar  death-scene  intermixing 
itself  with  its  unadorned  details,  the  fresh  blood  still  welling 
from  the  wound  made  by  the  tearing  away  of  a  portion  of 
one's  own  Life,  every  line  is  fraught  with  truth  and  pathos. 

"  Can  I  bring  him  back  again  ?  I  shah1  go  to  him,  but  he 
shall  not  return  to  me !". 

"Go  to  her!     Oh,  if  I  could!    My  baby!  my  baby!" 

To  the  low,  sad  cry  succeeded  a  season  of  yearning  and 
of  tears.  It  was  an  echo  of  the  wail  of  the  heathen  mother 
who,  centuries  ago,  having  seen  her  babes  slain  before  her 
eyes,  cried  aloud,  in  unselfish  agony,  as  the  sword,  reeking 
with  their  blood,  was  plunged  into  her  own  bosom — "  Oh,  my 
children !  where  are  ye  ?" 

Sleep  on,  in  thy  lowly  bed  upon  the  hillside,  sweet  Baby 
Belle  !  Like  the  pale  buds  that  are  fading  with  thee  in  thy 
narrow  resting-place,  thy  mission  on  earth  is  accomplished. 


HUSKS. 


235 


y°ung  freed  spirit,  if,  stealing  through  the  melodies  of 
Heaven,  there  comes  to  thee  the  whisper  of  that  mother's 
call !  Fair  lamb  !  the  love  that  folded  thee  in  the  Shepherd's 
arms  designed  likewise,  in  recalling  thee,  to  lure  the  wander 
ing  parent  home ! 


236  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

"  MY  DEAR  LEWIS  :  Before  you  receive  this  letter,  you 
will  have  had  the  explanation  of  my  disappearance  from 
New  York.  A  merciful  Providence  directed  me,  in  my 
partial  derangement,  to  this  peaceful  retreat.  Here  I  have 
found  rest  for  body  and  soul — peace  such  as  the  world  could 
never  give  the  heart,  even  were  it  not  bowed  down  by  a 
sorrow  like  mine.  Not  that  I  forget  past  errors  ;  nor  that 
the  review  does  not  humble  me  in  the  dust.  I  confess,  with 
shame  and  bitterness  of  spirit,  my  wasted  years,  my  un- 
sanctified  affections,  my  evil  passions.  But  for  the  assurance 
of  the  Father's  pardon,  the  Saviour's  loving  pity,  the  black 
catalogue  would  strike  me  dead  with  horror  and  anguish. 
It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  be  made  to  see  one's  self  as  she  is  ; 
to  scan  in  terrified  solicitude  the  record  of  a  life,  and  find 
there  nothing  better  than  pride,  misanthropy,  falsehood, 
hatred  of  men — rebellion  against  God.  It  is  a  sweet  ex 
perience  to  taste,  however  tremblingly,  the  consolations  of 
the  Friend  who  invites  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  to  draw 
near  and  learn  of  Him.  In  His  strength — not  in  that  feeble 
ness  I  once  called  power — have  I  resolved  to  lead  a  new 
life.  Of  the  causes  which  have  contributed  to  produce  this 
change,  we  will  speak  more  at  length  when  we  meet. 

"  '  When  we  meet !'  Lewis,  will  you,  can  you  forget  your 
manifold  wrongs  and  come  back  to  me  ?  I  do  not  plead, 
now,  '  for  the  sake  of  our  child.'  Her  sinless  soul  hence 
forth  can  know  no  pain  or  woe.  God  saw  that  I  was  not 


HUSKS.  237 

worthy  of  her,  and  He  took  her.     In  the  earlier  weeks  of 
my  selfish  mourning,  I  had  no  thought  of  your  bereavement. 
Latterly,  I  have  longed  to  comfort  you,  for  I  know  that  your 
heart  is  riven  by  this  stroke.     She  was  your  joy,  as  she  was 
my  angel  of  peace.     Her  loss  is  our  common  sorrow.     Shall 
it  not  draw  us  together  ?     Yet,  as  I  have  said,  our  estrange 
ment  cannot  now  affect  her.     Thoughtless  of  evil,  she  passed 
away.     Had  she  lived,  the  Omniscient  only  knows   what 
grief  and  mortification  might  have  darkened  her  pathway. 
Nor  do  I  desire  a  reconciliation  as  a  shield  from  the  world's 
sneer  or  ban.      I  hold  its  applause  and  its  censure  alike 
cheaply.     In   prosperity,  its  favors  were  painted,  tasteless 
fruit ;   in  adversity,  it  would  have  fed  my  starving  heart 
with  husks.     But  for  my  sake — by  the  thought  of  my  late 
and  sore  repentance ;  by  the  remorse  that  must  gnaw  my 
spirit,  when  I  remember  your  noble  trust  in  me,  your  un 
swerving  fidelity,  your  generous  love  and  my  base  requital 
of  it  all ;  by  the  sorrow  that  never  leaves  me  by  day  or  by 
night — forgive  me,  and  return  to  the  home  we  have  both 
forsaken  !     I  will  serve  you  very  faithfully,  my  husband  !    I 
have  gained  other  and  higher  views  of  the  marriage  relation 
within  a  short  time  past.     However  presumptuously  I  may 
have  assumed  its  responsibilities,  however  unworthily  I  per 
formed  its  duties  in  former  days,  I  would  enter  upon  our  re- 
engagement  with  a  solemn  sense  of  what  I  owe  to  you  and 
to  Him  who  united  us.     You  must  have  despised  me  at  our 
parting,  and  since.     Perhaps  you  have  come  to  think  of  me 
with  dislike  as  well  as  contempt.     I  will  bear  this — grievous 
though  the  burden  will  be — as  a  part  of  my  righteous  punish 
ment.     I  will  never  murmur — never,  even  in  thought,  accuse 
you  of  unjust  harshness,  if  you  will  grant  me  the  opportunity 
to  make  what  amends  I  can  for  all  you  have  lost  and  suf 
fered  through  my  fault." 

Sarah  was  still  far  from  strong  ;  and  wearied  as  much  by 


238  HUSKS. 

the  intensity  of  her  feelings  as  by  the  manual  effort  of 
writing,  she  laid  the  pen  down,  and  leaned  back  in  the 
cushioned  chair.  Her  table  stood  in  the  parlor  beneath  the 
window  overlooking  the  river.  The  room  was  prim  and 
clean,  as  of  yore,  with  its  straight  lines  of  chairs  ;  its  shining 
specks  of  mirrors  ;  the  grim  black  profiles  above  the  mantel, 
and  the  green  boughs  in  the  fire-place.  The  outer  scene  was  in 
its  general  features  that  which  the  girl  had  surveyed,  with 
pleased  surprise,  the  July  evening  of  her  arrival  here  twc 
years  ago. 

Only  two  years  !  The  sufferings  and  life-lessons  of  twenty 
had  been  crowded  into  that  brief  space.  The  meadows  were 
growing  sere,  as  if  scorching  winds  had  swept  over  them, 
and  the  stream  reflected  truthfully,  yet,  one  could  have  fan 
cied,  sadly,  the  changing  foliage  fringing  its  borders.  But 
the  sky,  with  its  tender  blue  and  its  fleecy  clouds,  ever  shift 
ing,  yet  ever  retaining  their  likeness  to  one  another — the 
river's  smooth,  steady  flow,  were  the  same ;  fit  emblems 
both  of  them  of  counsels  which  are  mercy  and  truth  through 
all  their  workings  ;  of  love  that  abideth  forever ! 

The  train  of  thought  was  replete  with  refreshing  to  the 
spirit  that  was  striving,  in  prayer  and  watchfulness,  to  adhere 
to  the  right,  to  accept,  with  meek  submission,  all  that  hei 
cup  yet  held  of  pungent  or  nauseous  lees.  There  was  nc 
affectation  in  the  humble  tone  of  her  letter.  She  would  not 
begin  it  until  she  had  mastered  the  stubborn  remnant  of  hei 
native  pride.  It  should  be  nothing  to  her  that  her  husband 
had  wilfully  separated  himself  from  her,  and  refused  her 
overtures  of  reconcilement.  If  this  was  unkindness,  it  was 
all  she  could  reproach  him  with  in  the  course  of  time  they 
had  spent  together.  He  had  been  a  true  friend,  an  honorable 
protector,  and  dimly  still,  but  more  justly  than  ever  before, 
she  perceived  that  into  his  love  for  her  there  had  entered 
none  of  the  merely  prudential  considerations,  the  cool  calcu- 


HUSKS.  239 

lations,  wherewith  she  used  to  account  for  his  choice  of  her 
self  as  a  helpmeet.  Where,  in  the  world's  heartless  circles, 
could  she  point  out  another  wife  as  much  indulged,  as  much 
honored  in  public  and  in  private,  as  she  once  was  by  him  ? 
Mournfully,  if  not  lovingly,  she  dwelt  upon  the  countless 
evidences  of  his  cordial  fulfilment,  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  of 
his  part  of  their  mutual  engagement,  with  something  of  the 
sinking  of  heart  the  alchemist  may  have  felt  when,  after  he 
had,  by  a  mechanical  and  habitual  fling  of  his  arm,  tossed 
the  eagerly-sought  philosopher's  stone  into  the  sea  as  a 
worthless  pebble,  he  discovered  that  the  divining  steel  he 
held  had  been  changed  to  gold  by  its  touch. 

To  whom  of  us  has  not  an  experience  similar  to  this  come  ? 
It  may  be  that  the  eyes  which  once  besought  affection  with 
dumb  and  disregarded  eloquence  are  closed  and  rayless  for 
all  future  time ;  the  lips  that  told,  with  modest  frankness, 
how  dear  we  were  to  hearts  we  cared  not  then  to  win,  are 
now  but  silent  dust.  Or,  perchance,  grieved  by  indifference, 
repelled  by  unkindness,  those  hearts  have  sought  and  found 
in  other  loves  solace  for  the  pain  we,  in  our  blindness,  in 
flicted.  It  matters  little  whether  they  be  dead  to  all  the 
world,  or  only  to  us.  In  either  case,  the  longing  and  despair 
of  our  lonely  lives  are  rendered  the  more  unendurable  from 
the  flash  of  tardy  truth  that  shows  us,  side  by  side  with  our 
actual  poverty  of  heart  riches,  the  tranquil  beauty  of  the 
pictured  "  might  have  been." 

Aunt  Sarah  had  gone  on  a  visit  to  a  neighbor ;  the  hired 
girl  was  in  the  distant  wash-house ;  and  Charley  considered 
it  his  duty  to  linger  within  easy  reach  of  his  cousin,  should 
she  need  him  for  any  purpose.  To  guard  her  from  all  chance 
of  intrusion,  he  stationed  himself  on  the  front  porch  steps, 
with  his  book  on  his  knee.  For  an  hour,  he  read  on  unin 
terruptedly  ;  then,  glancing  up  as  he  turned  a  leaf,  he  saw  a 
gentleman  coming  down  the  gravel-walk.  He  looked  thin 


240  HUSKS. 

and  anxious,  and  his  restless  eye  wandered  from  door  to 
windows,  as  in  expectation  of  seeing  some  one  besides  the 
boy.  With  a  ready  apprehension  of  his  infirmity,  only  to 
be  accounted  for  by  some  prior  knowledge  of  the  person  he 
saluted,  he  took  from  his  pocket  a  card,  which  he  presented 
before  he  shook  hands  with  the  silent  host.  Charley's  in 
telligent  face  was  one  beam  of  pleasure  as  he  read,  and  his 
warm  grasp  showed  his  sympathy  in  the  happiness  he  fancied 
was  in  store  for  his  cousin.  Inviting  the  guest  by  a  gesture 
to  follow  him,  he  went  softly  to  the  parlor-door,  tapped 
lightly — too  lightly,  indeed,  to  attract  the  notice  of  the 
musing  occupant  of  the  room,  then  drew  back  the  bolt,  ad 
mitted  the  stranger,  and  delicately  withdrew. 

Sarah  heard  the  door  open  and  Charley's  retreating  foot 
steps,  and,  supposing  that  he  had  peeped  in  to  see  that  she 
was  comfortable  and  wanted  for  nothing,  she  did  not  look 
around.  The  intruder  stood  still  one  step  within  the  room, 
as  if  unable  to  advance  or  speak.  The  languid  attitude  of 
the  figure  before  him,  so  unlike  the  self-poise  and  quiet  ener 
gy  of  her  former  deportment,  her  black  dress,  even  the  wast 
ed  hands  dropped  so  wearily  upon  her  lap,  told  of  the 
storm  that  had  passed  over  her,  the  utter  revolution  in  her 
life  and  nature.  A  struggling  sigh  he  could  not  repress 
broke  from  the  gazer's  breast,  and  Sarah  turned  hastily  to 
wards  him.  She  did  not  swoon,  as  he  feared  she  would. 
A  thrill,  like  an  electric  shock,  shook  her  from  head  to  foot ; 
a  wild  inquiry  looked  from  her  eyes;  a  question  of  the  reali 
ty  of  the  appearance,  succeeding  so  closely  to — did  it  grow 
out  of  her  revery  ? 

Lewis  put  this  imagination  to  flight. 

"  Sarah  !"  he  said,  pressing  in  his  the  hands  she  extended 
mutely.  "  They  told  me  you  were  lost,  and  I  hurried  home 
to  find  you.  I  could  not  wrait  for  your  permission  to  come 
to  you,  when  I  learned  in  New  York  that  I  had  a  living 


HUSKS.  241 

wife !  The  loss  of  the  child  was  heavy  enough ;  but  this —  " 
He  could  say  no  more. 

"  I  am  thankful !  I  am  glad  that  you  are  here!"  A  faint, 
beautiful  smile  shone  over  her  wan  features.  "  And  our 
baby,  Lewis !  We  must  remember  that  she  is  an  angel 
now !" 

11 


242  HUSKS. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

To  no  one  except  Aunt  Sarah  were  the  facts  of  the 
estrangement  and  reconciliation  of  her  relatives  ever  re 
vealed,  and  within  her  faithful  bosom  the  secret  was  hid 
den  as  securely  as  in  a  tomb. 

Great  was  the  chagrin  of  gossips,  male  and  female, 
when  it  was  known  that  Mrs.  Hammond's  strange  flight 
from  her  father's  house,  which  had  leaked  out  nobody 
knew  how,  and  been  variously  construed  into  an  elope 
ment,  a  freak  of  derangement,  and  a  deliberate  intention 
of  suicide,  according  to  the  degrees  of  charity  possessed 
by  the  theorists,  was  a  very  innocent  and  unromantic 
journey  to  the  country  home  of  her  favorite  aunt  and 
godmother,  a  lady  of  ample  fortune  and  benevolent  heart, 
who  would,  in  all  probability,  make  her  namesake  her  heiress. 
Under  her  care,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  seclusion  so  con 
genial  to  one  in  her  affliction,  and  the  salt  air  so  necessary 
for  the  restoration  of  her  impaired  health,  Mrs.  Hammond 
had  remained  until  her  husband's  return  from  abroad. 

Mrs.  Hunt  had  told  Mrs.  A.,  who  had  told  Mrs.  B.,  who  re 
peated  it  to  Mrs.  C.,  how  he  had  not  stopped  in  New  York  an 
hour  after  he  stepped  ashore  from  the  Adriatic.  He  hurried 
to  the  bank,  and  ascertained  from  Mr.  Hunt  that  his  wife  was 
with  her  aunt,  and  that  a  boat  which  would  land  him  near 
Shrewsbury  was  to  leave  in  fifteen  minutes.  So  he  drove 
down  post-haste,  and  jumped  on  board  of  her  after  the 
plank  had  been  drawn  in  and  the  wheels  began  to  move. 


HUSKS.  24:3 

There  never  was  a  more  devoted  husband  or  a  more  attached 
pair,  Mrs.  Hunt  affirmed. 

''More  than  she  could  say  for  that  flirting  Mrs.  Benson 
and  Tier  other  half,"  agreed  A.  B.  and  C.,  unanimously. 

"Her  conduct  at  Newport  was  scandalous,  and  would 
have  been  outrageous  if  he  had  not  watched  her  like 
a  lynx !"  said  Mrs.  Beau  Monde,  who  had  never  been  able 
to  secure  one-half  as  many  admirers  as  had  Lucy,  and 
hated  her  as  honestly  as  if  they  were  a  couple  of  Biddies 
pulling  caps  for  Patrick  or  Murphy. 

"  I  don't  see  why  he  should  have  felt  jealous,  I  am  sure. 
He  wasn't  dying  of  love  for  her  !  That  could  be  seen  with 
half  an  eye.  They  say  he  loved  Mrs.  Hammond  before  he 
addressed  her  sister,  and  married  this  one  out  of  spite,"  re 
joined  Mrs.  Townes,  who  had  made  beaux  yeux  at  the 
distingue  Southerner  for  three  whole  evenings,  and  won  only 
the  most  indifferent  glances  in  requital. 

"  Mrs.  Hammond  behaved  very  prudently !"  pronounced 
Mrs.  Greyling,  "  and  dressed  very  well.  I  suppose  Mr. 
Hammond  brought  her  some  elegant  things  from  abroad. 
Pity  she  is  in  mourning,  and  must  dress  plainly  at  present ! 
If  I  were  in  her  place — as  it  was  only  a  baby — I  would  not 
wear  black  more  than  six  months,  unless  it  was  very  becom- 
ing." 

"  She  has  become  very  religious,  you  know,"  said  Mrs. 
Parton. 

"Indeed!  People  are  apt  to,  I  think,  when  there  has 
been  death  in  the  family,"  concluded  Mrs.  Greyling,  pensive 
ly.  "  I  remember,  when  my  poor  sister  died,  I  used  to 
look  forward  to  church  and  Sunday  with  real  pleasure.  I 
could  not  go  anywhere  on  week-days,  you  know,  although 
there  were  piles  of  tickets  lying  in  my  card-receiver,  and  we 
had  just  taken  a  box  at  the  opera  that  very  winter  !  I  de 
clare,  I  should  have  lost  the  run  of  the  fashions  entirely, 


244  HUSKS. 

and  forgotten  people's  faces,  if  I  had  not  gone  to  church.  I 
dare  say,  too,  that  she  finds  some  comfort  in  religion — poor 
woman  !  if  what  the  preachers  and  good  books  tell  us  be 
true." 

Had  Sarah  found  comfort  ? 

Look  we,  for  reply,  to  the  chastened  lustre  of  the  eye, 
where  once  burned  restless  fires,  like  the  sunward  gaze  of 
the  imprisoned  eagle ;  to  the  holy  serenity  struggling  through 
and  finally  dispelling  the  clouds  of  memory  and  regret  that, 
at  times,  would  roll  in  between  her  soul  and  the  bright, 
sustaining  hope  upon  which  Faith  would  have  its  regards 
forever  fixed  ;  to  her  daily  life,  sanctified  by  prayer,  benefi 
cent  in  good  works,  and  by  its  unostentatious  loveliness 
winning  others,  first  to  admire,  then  to  imitate ;  to  the  wife 
ly  submission  and  loving  kindness  of  her  bearing  to  her  hus 
band,  her  grateful  estimate  of  the  affection  he  lavished  upon 
her,  the  deep,  true  tenderness  growing  up  in  her  heart  for 
this  fond  and  noble  companion ;  look  we,  lastly,  to  the 
snowy  marble  guarding  that  tiny  mound  in  Greenwood, 
where  the  mother  once  believed  that  hope  and  joy  were 
buried  to  know  no  awaking. 

"BABY  BELLE," 

INFANT    DAUGHTER    OF 

LEWIS  AND  SARAH  HAMMOND. 

SHE    WENT    HOME 

July  16,  1858,  aged  8  months. 

"  Is  it  well  with  thee  ?    Is  it  well  with  thy  husband? 

Is  it  well  with  the  child?"    And  she  answered, 

UIT   IS  WELLl" 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 


BY 

MARION    HARLAND 


NEW  YORK: 

SHELDON   &    COMPANY,  335  BROADWAY. 
1863. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1863, 
"  BY   SHELDON  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS, 


CHAPTER   I. 

"  YES  ?"  said  Aunt  Ruth,  with  kindling  interest. 

This  important  monosyllable  was,  in  the  mouth  of  this 
excellent  lady,  susceptible  of  an  infinite  variety  and  number 
less  gradations  of  meaning.  Wooing  encouragement ;  hear 
ty  and  unequivocal  assent ;  loving  sympathy ;  lively  curiosity 
and  civil  indifference ;  sometimes, upon  sufficient  provocation, 
a  mild  species  of  sarcasm  or  contemptuous  incredulity — all 
these  were  habitually  expressed  by  the  gentle  spinster 
through  the  medium  of  the  little  word,  defined  by  mistaken 
masculine  lexicographers  as  "  an  affirmative  particle  opposed 
to  wo."  Opposed  to  "  no,'1  indeed !  As  if  Aunt  Ruth  could 
not,  and  did  not,  make  it  mean  "  no" — and  no  uncertain  neg 
ative,  at  that — every  day  of  her  life  ! 

She  sat  now  in  a  well-cushioned  Boston  rocker,  dressed 
in  a  gray  merino,  and  a  cap  trimmed  with  dove-colored  rib 
bons,  swinging  slowly  to  and  fro,  knitting  a  lamb's  wool 
sock.  Upon  the  other  side  of  the  round  candle-stand  was 
her  eldest  nephew,  Mr.  Alexander  Lay,  yclept  by  his  inti 
mates  and  the  community  in  general,  "  Aleck,"  lounging  in 
lazy  content  against  the  stuffed  back  of  a  great  easy-chair, 


248 

covered  with  black  leather,  polished  to  shining  sleekness  by 
constant  service  during  many  years.  His  nether  limbs  were 
supported  by  the  brass  fender,  and  a  meerschaum  was  be 
tween  his  teeth.  He  was  a  fine-looking  young  fellow  of 
four-and-twenty,  with  a  well-developed,  sinewy  figure,  black 
hair,  and  a  beard  whose  length,  while  it  would  have  given 
an  outre  air  to  the  visage  of  most  men,  was  yet  highly  be 
coming  to  his  bronzed  complexion  and  marked  physiogno 
my.  He  had  arrived  unexpectedly,  but  three  hours  before, 
at  his  patrimonial  mansion,  after  an  absence  of  two  years 
from  his  native  land,  most  of  which  time  he  had  spent  in  a 
German  University. 

"  The  neatest  people  upon  the  globe  !"  he  had  said,  pur 
suing  a  description  of  a  tour  through  Holland. 

And  Miss  Ruth  Massie,  his  maternal  aunt,  whose  forte  was 
housewifery,  and  who  was  famed,  far  and  near,  for  the 
scrupulous  cleanliness  of  her  establishment,  forgot  the  yawn 
lodged  in  her  throat,  provoked  by  his  incidents  of  travel 
through  Switzerland  and  Italy,  and  rejoined  by  the  "  parti 
cle"  quoted  above. 

"  I  wished  most  for  you  when  I  visited  Broek,"  continued 
the  tourist.  "  The  streets  are  scoured  as  frequently  and 
carefully  as  you  wash  your  plates  and  dishes ;  the  iron  rail 
ings  enclosing  the  little  patches  of  brick  pavement  they 
denominate  door-yards,  are  ornamented  by  brass  knobs, 
brought,  by  dint  of  diligent  friction,  to  the  brightness  of 
mirrors ;  and  the  fronts  of  the  houses  are  deluged  every 
morning  by  jets  of  water  from  a  hose  or  syringe.  Not  an 
atom  of  dust  or  a  cobweb  is  anywhere  visible.  They  even 
tie  up  the  tails  of  the  cows  when  they  have  combed  and 
brushed  them,  lest  they  should  trail  upon  the  ground,  and 
be  afterwards  accidentally  used  to  whisk  their  smooth 
sides." 

"Yes?"     Miss  Ruth's  eyes  opened  more  widely. 


249 


"  The  chickens'  nails  are  cleaned  and  pared  each  day,  and 
I  have  heard,  although  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this 
statement,  that  the  hens'  teeth  are  scrubbed  at  the  same  time, 
with  a  brush  invented  solely  for  this  purpose." 

«  Yes !" 

The  "  particle,"  this  time,  was  equivalent  to — "  You  don't 
tell  me  so !  I  never  heard  the  like !" 

"  I  felt  sorry  for  the  children,"  Aleck  went  on  with  the 
veracious  narrative — "  rosy,  roly-poly,  pudding-faced  Dutch 
babies  that  they  were!  Fancy  a  childhood — above  all,  a 
boyhood — passed  in  ignorance  of  the  glories  of  paddling  in 
mud-puddles,  with  one's  trousers  rolled  above  his  knees, 
and  the  delight  of  manufacturing  mud  pies !  I  never  longed, 
before  or  since,  to  be  an  instructor  of  youth,  but  I  did  covet 
the  privilege  of  initiating  the  unfortunate  little  wretches 
into  such  practices  as  used  to  enrapture  Robin's  soul  and 
mine !" 

"  I  don't  believe  their  mothers  would  have  thanked  you ! 
I  recollect  the  trouble  you  boys  used  to  give  me  by  such 
tricks." 

Aleck  laughed.  "  Don't  bear  malice,  aunty,  since  we  have 
put  away  childish  things — more's  the  pity !  But  I  was  go 
ing  to  tell  you  about  the  Dutch  girls.  Such  complexions ! 
such  roses  and  lilies !  such  plump  dumplings  of  forms — suet 
dumplings,  you  could  not  doubt !  It  made  a  fellow's  mouth 
water  to  look  at  the  angels !" 

"Ah,  yes!"  Miss  Ruth's  slight  nod  heightened  the  sig 
nificance  of  her  arch,  knowing  tone.  "Now  you  are  coming 
to  the  point !"  she  meant  to  imply. 

"  Then,  you  should  see  them  skate  in  winter  !  Ten  or  a 
dozen  miles  they  fly  down  the  canals  to  market,  to  sell  their 
eggs  and  butter,  and  back  again  the  same  day.  They  have 
regular  balls  upon  the  ice.  Shall  I  ever  forget  a  day's  sport 
upon  skates,  which  I  enjoyed  with  a  blue-eyed  beauty — • 
11* 


250  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

fleet  of  foot  as  a  grey-hound ;  lips  like  cherries ;  cheeks  like 
the  sunny  side  of  an  apricot,  and  waist  like  a  firm  roll  of 
butter!  Ah,  me  !  'Joys  that  we've  tasted!'  That  is  one 
of  the  never-returning  kind,  I  am  afraid  !" 

'•''The  one — was  she?"  interrogated  Miss  Ruth. 

"One  of  them!"  said  the  male  coquette,  heartlessly. 

"Yes!  yes!" 

Which  was,  being  interpreted — "  Aleck !  Aleck !  you  are 
a  sad  fellow !" 

"Can't  help  it,  aunty!  If  the  girls  will  be  fascinating, 
they  must  take  the  natural  consequence  of  their  behavior, 
and  endure  my  devotion  with  the  best  grace  they  can." 

"  I  thought  you  were  going  to  bring  her  home  to  America 
with  you  ?" 

"  I  would  have  done  so,  assuredly,  had  I  known  that  you 
desired  it,  and  if  I  could  have  decided  which  'her'  you  ex 
pected  me  to  elect  to  that  supreme  felicity." 

"  Yes  !"  said  Miss  Ruth,  in  affectionate  ridicule  of  this 
conceited  speech.  "  The  '  her'  I  meant  was  that  Gret — Gret- 
na — or  some  such  name  you  went  crazy  about,  six  months 
ago.  It's  queer  I  can't  remember  what  you  called  her." 

"  Gretna  Green,  perhaps  ?"  suggested  Aleck,  with  praise 
worthy  gravity. 

"  You  didn't  mention  her  surname,  but  I  think  it  more 
than  likely  that's  the  one — the  beautiful  German  girl,  whose 
singing  and  dancing,  you  said,  had  carried  you  into  the 
seventh  heaven — and  all  that  sort  of  nonsense." 

"  Gretna  Green  is  of  Scotch  extraction.  Perhaps  Gret- 
chen  was  the  word  you  could  not  recollect." 

"  Yes.    Where  is  she  ?" 

"  I  really  cannot  say.  Probably  married  to  some  lager- 
loving  Herr  Von  Something,  making  his  sauer-kraut  and 
brewing  his  bier.  I  have  not  thought  of  her  in  five  months, 
that  I  know  of.  I  do  remember,  however,  since  you  have 


WAKDS.  251 

alluded  to  the  subject,  that  she  was  quite  a  pretty  girl,  and 
sang  tolerably." 

Aunt  Ruth  shook  her  head  again — now,  in  sorrowful  de 
precation  of  the  criminal  trifling  he  avowed  so  carelessly. 

"  I  was  in  hopes  you  meant  to  settle  down  for  good  and 
all !  Not  that  I  fancied  over-much  your  marrying  a  foreign 
er;  and  of  the  two  girls  you've  spoken  of,  Fd  rather  you 
had  brought  home  the  Scotch  than  the  Dutch." 

"  German !"  corrected  Aleck. 

"  It's  all  the  same — ain't  it  ?  Aleck !  what  possesses  you 
to  smoke  that  dirty-looking  pipe  ?  Maybe  you  haven't  no 
ticed  how  the  amber  is  staining  it  through  and  through  ?" 

"  Aunt  Ruth  !  I  am  ashamed  of  you  !  This  is  a  genuine 
meerschaum,  and  cost  more  money  than  Robin  could  get 
for  the  best  horse  in  his  stable !" 

"Yes?     Let  me  see  it!" 

She  inspected  the  shining  black  bowl,  with  its  curious 
cloudy  veins,  and  the  curved  stem. 

"  A  mere  sham — did  you  call  it  ?" 

"  Yes,  ma'am.  There  are  so  few  of  the  real  articles  among 
the  many  that  pass  with  the  verdant  purchasers  for  valuable, 
that  the  contemptuous  title  deserved  by  the  counterfeit  has 
gradually  been  applied  to  all.  There's  a  moral  in  the  fact, 
if  you  will  take  the  pains  to  study  it." 

"  It  wants  burning  out  badly !"  said  his  aunt,  disregard 
ing  his  philosophizing,  and  handing  back  the  vaunted  "  real 
article,"  with  an  unmistakable  contortion  of  the  nose  and 
upper  lip.  "  It  would  be  the  sweeter,  and  so  would  your 
mouth,  for  that  matter,  if  you  would  leave  it  under  the  back 
log  there,  all  night.  I  could  caution  Marthy  to  be  careful 
not  to  crack  or  break  it  when  she  takes  up  the  ashes  to 
morrow  morning." 

Managing  his  facial  muscles  with  considerable  difficulty, 
the  fun-loving  nephew  explained  that  the  discoloration  she 


252 


condemned  was  the  prime  beauty  of  the  pipe,  adding  divers 
reminiscences — authentic,  of  course — of  the  high  estimate  set 
upon  long-used  and  well-blackened  meerschaums  by  discrimi 
nating  Teutons. 

"Reckon  they  are  not  such  overly  clean  people,  after  all !" 
was  Miss  Ruth's  conclusion,  enunciated  with  disdainful  em 
phasis.  "  Brit  seriously,  my  boy,  what  has  become  of  this 
girl  ?  not  Miss  Green — the  other  one  !  What  broke  off  the 
match  ?  You  as  good  as  told  me  you  were  going  to  marry 
her  right  off." 

"I  did!     When  and  how?' 

"  In  a  letter,  crammed  from  beginning  to  end  with  her 
praises,  which  you  wrote  me  half  a  year  ago." 

"  Ah  !  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter,  I  fancy.  The  flame 
burned  itself  to  ashes  in  that  epistle.  I  cannot  remember 
certainly  what  disenchanted  me.  I  have  an  idea  that  it 
was  Gretchen's  immoderate  fondness  for  cabbage  in  an  ad 
vanced  stage  of  decomposition — so-called  sauer-kraut." 

"  Yes  !"  Aunt  Ruth  sighed. 

"  You  don't  think  that  a  sufficient  cause  for  a  breach  of 
promise,  I  see,"  said  her  nephew,  in  pretended  anxiety. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  never  marry,  Aleck !" 

"  If  I  ever  do,  my  wife's  favorite  dish  shall  be  neither 
cabbage  nor  onions." 

"  You  are  as  bad  as  Colonel  Floyd  !  When  he  has  bacon 
and  cabbage  for  dinner,  he  won't  allow  Mrs.  Floyd  and  the 
girls  to  come  to  the  table.  He  says  it  is  only  fit  for  men  to 
smell.  Once  in  a  while  he  has  an  old-fashioned  neighbor 
there,  to  whom  he  wants  to  be  polite ;  and  since  his  rich 
friend  must  have  the  dish,  it  is  prepared,  and  the  ladies 
don't  make  their  appearance  until  the  cabbage  is  removed. 
I've  heard,  though,  that  Helen  will  not  submit  to  this  non 
sense  since  she  came  of  age — that  she  will  take  her  place 
at  table  and  entertain  the  company  in  her  aunt's  absence.'* 


253 


"  They  are  all  well  at  Belleview,  are  they  ?"  questioned 
Aleck,  puffing  away  rather  faster  at  his  meerschaum. 

"  Yes." 

Mr.  Lay  turned  at  the  hesitating  tone,  enwrapping  so 
much  of  mysterious  meaning,  and  ominous  of  ill-tidings. 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter  there?  Has  any  thing  gone 
wrong  ?" 

"  Nothing  new — nothing  but  what  has  been  wrong  from 
the  start,  and  that  was  more  years  ago  than  most  people 
dream  of.  Only — from  all  I  can  gather  from  people's  sly 
whispers — nobody  dares  say  any  thing  aloud — things  are 
looking  crookeder  of  late  than  they  used  to." 

She  stopped  to  count  the  rounds  in  her  sock,  preparatory 
to  turning  off  the  heel.  Aleck  said  nothing,  and  seemed  to 
watch  the  briskly-rising  rings  of  smoke. 

"  This  marriage  is  a  serious  business — one  that  is  gener 
ally  entered  upon  too  carelessly,"  resumed  Miss  Massie, 
oracularly.  "  I  don't  know  but  you  are  right  to  be  cautious 
about  risking  a  chance  in  the  lottery ;  but  there  are  many 
worse  faults  in  a  wife  or  husband  than  a  breath  scented  with 
cabbage  or  garlic.  Colonel  Floyd  always  reminds  me  of 
the  men  of  old  who  used  to  tithe  mint,  anise,  and  cinnamon, 
while  they  neglected  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law.  If 
he  had  been  as  careful  of  his  wife's  property  and  happiness, 
and  his  children's  real  good,  as  he  is  to  spare  them  a  few 
trifling  annoyances  that  nobody  else  would  ever  think  of, 
they'd  be  better  off  in  mind  and  estate.  They  say  he 
gambles  awfully — worse  than  ever — and  that  if  half  his 
debts  were  paid,  he  would  not  have  a  dollar  or  an  acre  of 
land  left  that  he  could  call  his  own." 

"  Nobody  is  surprised  at  that,  I  imagine.  People  have 
prophesied  that  for  years  past; — although,  as  you  say, 
the  real  condition  of  his  affairs  may  be  more  generally  known, 
and  spoken  of  more  openly  than  it  used  to  be,"  said  Aleck. 


254 


Miss  Ruth's  needles  rattled  nervously  against  one 
another. 

"  Yes ;  but  there's  one  thing  that  worries  me  more  than 
all  the  rest.  While  I  am,  of  course,  very  sorry  for  poor 
Mrs.  Floyd  and  the  children,  still  it's  natural  to  feel  most 
uneasy  about  one's  own  flesh  and  blood,  and — well — maybe 
I  ought  not  to  speak  of  it,  even  to  you — but  I'm  very  sure 
that  Robert  has  lent  him  money,  and  a  good  deal  of  it,  and 
I  am.  doubtful  whether  he  will  ever  be  paid." 

"  You  need  not  be.  There  is  a  moral  certainty  that  he 
will  never  see  a  cent  of  it  again.  No  man  ever  did  yet,  who 
was  so  foolish  as  to  lend  any  thing  to  the  colonel.  You 
can  set  your  mind  at  rest  upon  that  score." 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so ;  but  it  is  a  pity  and  a  shame,  Aleck ! 
I  wish  you  could  put  Robert  upon  his  guard.  He's  so  soft 
hearted  and  open-handed  that  he  can't  say  '  No'  to  any 
body,  much  less  to  a  friend.  And  he  always  defends 
Colonel  Floyd  when  he  is  attacked ;  says  he's  not  so  bad 
as  the  world  is  disposed  to  think,  and  has  some  fine  traits 
of  character,  and  has  always  been  very  kind  to  him,  and  all 
such  talk.  You  know  Robert,  and  how  easily  imposed 
upon  he  is  ;  and  the  colonel  certainly  puts  himself  out  to  be 
polite  and  attentive  to  him,  and,  Robert  told  rne,  gave  his 
consent  in  the  most  handsome  manner  to  his  engagement 
with  Helen  Gardner,  Gracious,  Aleck!  you  might  have 
broken  it  all  to  pieces  !" 

Aleck  stooped  to  pick  up  the  pipe  that  had  slipped  from 
his  fingers,  and  remained  in  that  position  for  a  minute, 
busily  brushing  the  ashes  from  the  gayly  flowered  hearth 
rug — a  manifestation  of  care  and  neatness  which,  if  Aunt 
Ruth  remarked,  she  attributed  to  the  effect  of  his  resi 
dence  among  the  cleanly  Hollanders. 

"  Ugly  and  dirty  as  it  is,  it  would  have  been  a  pity  to 
break  what  cost  so  much  money,  and  is  so  hard  to  replace 


255 


in  this  country  !"  continued  the  thrifty  housewife.  "  'Tisn't 
cracked,  is  it  ?" 

"  No  I  But  I  interrupted  you !  What  were  you  say 
ing  ?"  Aleck  refilled  and  relighted  his  pipe,  after  seeming 
to  examine  it  solicitously,  and  stretched  out  his  feet  as 
before.  "  You  were  talking  about  the  Floyds." 

"  Yes  !  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  there  is  no  love  lost  between 
Helen  and  her  guardian.  I  don't  think  there  ever  has  been. 
He  has  always  found  her  an  unruly  charge,  I  reckon.  So  it 
isn't  to  please  her  that  Robert  let  him  have  money,  when 
he  asked  for  it.  It's  just  his  own  good-nature,  and  he  will 
suffer  for  it." 

"They  have  been  engaged  for  some  time,  have  they?" 

"Who?  Robert  and  Helen?  Four  or  five  months. 
They  seem  very  happy  together,  as  contented  a  couple  as 
I  ever  saw.  They  expect  to  be  married  at  Christinas ;  but 
I  suppose  Robert  has  told  you  all  about  that." 

"  At  Christmas  !  and  this  is  the  first  of  November !" 

There  was  a  dreary  echo  in  his  tone  that  reached  even 
Miss  Ruth's  apprehensions,  and  elicited  a  responsive  sigh. 

"  Yes  !  it  will  be  a  change  for  us  all — for  you  and  me,  as 
well  as  them  !  But  I  hope  it  is  for  Robert's  good.  He  will 
make  one  of  the  best  husbands  alive ;  and  she  has  steadied 
surprisingly — sobered  down  more  than  I  once  thought  she 
ever  could,  since  they  were  first  engaged.  Do  you  recol 
lect  how  wild  she  used  to  be  ?" 

"Yes!" 

And  after  this  musing  articulation  of  his  aunt's  favorite 
monosyllable,  there  was  an  interval  of  silence.  Miss  Ruth 
plied  her  knitting-needles  assiduously,  and  looked  over  her 
spectacles  into  the  crackling  fire.  The  nephew  smoked 
slowly,  and  seemed  to  study  the  same  blazing  pile  of  hick 
ory  logs.  What  were  her  motherly  and  housewifely  medi 
tations,  it  concerns  us  not  to  inquire.  The  central  figure  in 


256 


his  dream-pictures  was  a  young  girl,  with  flashing,  laughing 
eyes,  and  dark  chestnut  locks  wound  in  heavy  braids  about 
her  nobly-shaped  head ;    form   erect,   yet  pliant ;  dancing 
feet  whose  rapid  beat  was  sweetest  music  to  his  ears. 
"  Did  he  recollect  how  wild  she  used  to  be  ?" 
Mrs.  Floyd,  sober  and  shocked,  had  oftentimes  expostu 
lated  with  him  for  aiding  and  abetting  her  harum-scarum 
niece  in  her  hare-brained  pranks  and  lawless  proceedings. 
He  had  taught  her  to  sit  firmly  his  most  spirited  hunter,  in 
leaping  fences  and  ditches ;  to  fish,  and,  most  barbarous  of 
all  pursuits  for  a  young  lady — to  hunt !  to  carry  her  fowl 
ing-piece  and  bring  down  her  game  with  the  coolness  and 
address  of  a  veteran  sportsman.     This  last  named  accom 
plishment  was  rather  practised  in  secret,  than  alluded  to  in 
public.     It  was  doubtful  whether  Mrs.  Floyd  was  ever  quite 
sure  that  Helen  had  really  acquired  it.     Many  a  day  had 
she  spent  in  the  woods  in  company  with  Aleck  and  Robert, 
when  governess  and  guardians  had  granted  her  permission 
to  pay  a.  proper,  hum-drum  visit  to  Miss  Ruth.     An  unfor 
tunate  accident  finally  cured  her  of  her  Nimrod  proclivities. 
The  three  were  out  turkey-hunting,  one  day,  and  Aleck, 
having  stationed  Robert  with  Helen  behind  the  blind  of 
brushwood  and  bushes,  to  await  the   coming  of  the  fright 
ened  and  scattered  flock,  grew  impatient  of  the  tardiness 
of  the  dogs  sent  to  "  flush"  the  birds,  and  started  off  him 
self  to  seek  and  direct  them.     He  was  not  long  in  discover- 
ing  a  fine  gang  of  turkeys,  and  after  assuring  himself  that 
many  of  them  had  taken  the  direction  he  desired,  undertook 
to  regain  the  covert  by  another  route.     Crouching  low,  that 
his  head  might  not  appear  above  the  undergrowth  of  the 
wood,  he  made  his  way  rapidly  and  stealthily  towards  the 
ambuscade.     He  was  within  twenty  yards  of  it,  when  the 
crack  of  a  gun  rang  out  upon  the  forest  stillness.     Helen, 
excited  and  impetuous,  had   mistaken  the   slight  motion 


257 


created  by  his  passage  among  the  bushes,  for  the  advance 
of  the  expected  game,  and  fired  before  Robert  could  inter 
fere  to  prevent  her  rash  action.  The  charge  from  her 
weapon  lodged  in  Aleck's  shoulder  and  the  upper  part  of 
his  chest,  inflicting  a  severe,  and,  as  they,  in  their  inexpe 
rience,  feared,  a  fatal  wound. 

Bleeding  and  suffering — ignorant  as  his  companions  of 
the  extent  of  his  danger,  the  elder  brother  still  retained  his 
habitual  power  of  resolve  and  command. 

"  Leave  me  here — both  of  you !"  was  his  order.  "  Robert ! 
you  will  see  her  home !  then  ride  over  to  Greenfield  and 
bring  a  couple  of  men  back  with  you.  And,  my  dear  fel 
low  !  mind !  I  did  it  myself!" 

Helen  interposed  with  a  passionate  burst  of  self-accusa 
tion.  It  was  all  her  work — her  unpardonable  stupidity! 
her  cruel,  cruel  blunder !  and  she  alone  should  be  blamed 
for  it!  She  deserved  the  most  severe  things  that  could  be 
said  of  and  to  her ! 

"  Nelly !"  The  wounded  youth  looked  up  with  his  own 
saucy  smile.  "  Do  you  remember  what  that  old  Hebrew 
king — Abimelech,  I  believe  it  was — said  to  his  armor- 
bearer,  when  a  woman  cast  a  piece  of  millstone  from  the 
wall  of  the  besieged  city,  and  cracked  his  crown  ?  c  Draw 
thy  sword,  and  slay  me,  that  men  say  not  of  me — 'A 
\  woman  slew  him !'  Robert,  you  will  do  as  I  said !" 

Robert  hastened  away  in  quest  of  help ;  but  Helen's  will 
I  was  not  to  be  borne  down  in  this  matter.  For  two  hours — 
long  in  their  anguished  suspense  to  her ; — short  and  deli 
cious  as  a  dream  of  Paradise  to  the  injured  boy, — she  lin 
gered  beside  him  in  the  heart  of  that  lonely  forest; 
stanching  the  blood  with  such  appliances  as  were  within 
her  reach ;  making  him  a  pillow  of  leaves ;  fanning  him ; 
gently  wiping  his  brow,  when  the  pain,  that  could  not  extort 
groan  from  the  manly  heart,  or  dim  his  grateful  smile, 


258 


forced  great  beads  of  sweat  through  the  pores. 
more !  when  the  sound  of  voices  was  heard  approaching 
the  spot,  and  he  besought  her  for  both  their  sakes  to  make 
good  her  retreat  before  she  was  perceived  by  curious  or 
unfriendly  eyes,  she  gazed  long  and  earnestly  into  his 
face,  a  look  that  awoke  a  new  thrill  of  life  in  the  fainting 
heart,  and,  the  tears  raining  down  her  cheeks,  bent  over 
and  kissed  him. 

When  Robert  and  his  attendants  arrived  at  the  scene  of 
the  accident,  Aleck  was  alone,  lying  quietly  upon  his  leafy 
couch,  more  than  serene,  with  a  happy  light  upon  his  counte 
nance  that  glorified  and  elevated  every  feature.  It  was  but 
the  commencement  of  a  splendid  hunting  season — the  finest 
that  had  been  known  in  years — when  he  was  shot,  and  he 
lost  the  whole  of  it.  Miss  Ruth  marvelled  at  and  lauded 
his  patient  endurance  of  his  tedious  confinement ;  his  com 
rades  were  affected  with  equal  surprise  at  the  cheerful 
equanimity  with  which  he  received  their  raillery  upon  his 
awkwardness  in  hitting  himself, — he,  the  best  shot  in  the 
country ! 

"  Merely  a  difference  of  game,  boys !"  he  said,  gayly. 
"I  went  to  look  for  turkeys,  and  brought  down  a  great 
goose  instead !" 

Robert  carried  daily  health  bulletins  to  Colonel  Floyd's, 
and  never  returned  without  some  token  of  remembrance  or 
sympathizing  message  from  Helen.  Sometimes  she  wrote 
to  the  invalid.  Every  one  of  these  hastily  penned  notes — 
incoherent,  girlish,  extravagant — was  treasured  up  to  this 
day — locked  away,  as  too  sacred  for  other  eyes ; — perfumed 
with  the  roses  she  had  sent  by  his  brother's  hand.  The 
three  guarded  well  their  secret ;  but  Helen  never  hunted 
again.  If  she  had  not  lost  her  unfeminine  hankering  for  a 
personal  participation  in  the  amusement,  she  shrank  from  its 
practice  with  trembling. 


259 


She  was  but  fifteen  then, — scarcely  more  than  a  child. 
Robert  was  two  years  older,  and  Aleck  his  senior  by 
eighteen  months.  He  was  twenty-two  when  he  went  to 
Germany,  and  it  was  still  "Aleck"  and  "Nelly"  between 
them.  Still  they  laughed,  danced,  rode  and  sported  to 
gether,  the  acknowledged  ringleaders  of  every  frolic — 
the  wilder  the  better — and  Robert  was  the  balance-wheel 
to  their  impetuosity.  He  was  mirthful,  and  loved  fun  as 
dearly  as  did  either  of  the  others,  but  he  exhibited  a  gentle 
steadiness  of  demeanor,  a  graceful  propriety  of  action,  that 
caused  him  to  be  extolled  by  all  the  matrons  of  the  region 
as  a  "pattern  young  man,  and  a  safe  chance  for  any  girl." 
Nobody  called  Aleck  Lay  an  unsafe  chance,  yet  his  popu 
larity  never  equalled  his  brother's.  He  was  too  unscrupu 
lous  in  speech,  often  reckless  and  imprudent  in  manner. 
The  weak-minded  and  timid  feared  his  lash  of  ridicule; 
hypocrites  and  pretenders,  his  fearless  exposure  of  their 
true  characters.  Little  cared  he  for  popular  judgment,  for 
public  favor,  or  public  reprobation !  Aunt  Ruth  petted 
him ;  Robert  loved  him ;  and  Helen  was  his  willing  ally, 
his  fast  friend,  his  confidante  upon  all  subjects  save  one. 

Their  farewell,  prior  to  his  departure  for  the  Old  World, 
was  spoken  in  the  interval  of  the  dance,  at  a  large  party 
given  at  Colonel  Floyd's  in  celebration  of  Lily  Calvert's — a 
niece  and  another  ward  of  the  colonel's — birthday. 

"  It  would  hardly  be  honorable  in  me  were  I  to  say  to 
you  all  that  is  in  my  heart,"  Aleck  had  said,  hurriedly  ; 
"  for  this  avowal  would  force  you  to  a  corresponding  frank 
ness — and  I  shall  be  absent  a  long  time — and  we  are  both 
very  young.  It  would  be  basely  ungenerous,  were  I  to  at 
tempt  to  bind  you  by  a  promise  now." 

His  color  came  and  went  almest  as  rapidly  as  did  hers, 
and  his  whole  behavior  was  oddly  at  variance  with  his  usual 
easy,  self-assured  bearing. 


260 


"  But,  if  my  presumption  in  daring  to  speak  of  this  mat 
ter — to  think  of  you,  to  hope  and  dream,  as  I  have  for 
years,  has  not  offended  you;  if  you  will  still  keep  your 
early  play-fellow  in  remembrance — still  permit  him  to 
cherish  your  image  where  he  has  always  worn  it — in  his 
heart  of  hearts — may  I  ask  you  to  wear  this  while  I  am 
away?  It  is  no  signal  of  bondage,  recollect!  It  leaves 
you  free  as  air.  When  I  return,  if  I  do  not  see  it  on  your 
finger,  I  shall,  nevertheless,  have  no  right  to  feel  myself 
ill-treated — shall  never  molest  you  by  demands  for  any  ex 
planation." 

They  stood  apart  from  the  crowd,  at  a  window  partially 
concealed  by  a  curtain.  Without  a  word — only  with  one 
thrilling  look  into  his  eyes,  that  revived  the  memory  of  the 
forest  scene,  she  drew  off  her  glove — his  hand  touched 
hers — held  it  for  a  second!  The  next  minute  a  partner 
claimed  her  for  the  ensuing  set,  and  led  her  away,  dreaming 
as  little  of  the  ring  hicjden  by  the  snowy  kid,  as  did  the 
throng  at  large  of  the  wild  throbbings  of  the  heart — the 
mingled  rapture,  pain,  and  unrest  masked  by  Aleck  Lay's 
laughing  face.  Helen  was  never  more  gay  than  during  the 
remainder  of  the  revel ;  and  his  spirits  seemed  to  keep  pace 
with  the  rise  of  hers.  Their  last  dance  together  was  a 
dashing,  sweeping  waltz,  whose  almost  frantic  swiftness, 
and  the  length  of  time  they  kept  it  up,  set  all  the  prudes' 
heads  to  wagging  in  holy  horror,  and  drew  from  kind,  lov 
ing,  charitable  Aunt  Ruth  a  deprecating  remark  to  her 
nephew  Robert. 

"  She's  a  good-hearted  girl,  I  don't  doubt,  Robert !  And 
I  have  great  confidence  in  her  principles ;  she  wouldn't 
knowingly  do  a  wrong  thing ;  but  it's  a  pity  the  poor  child 
has  no  mother !" 

The  rout  over,  the  adieux  were  brief — a  single  glance 
was  interchanged,  and  a  hand-clasp,  fervent,  but  not  pro- 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  261 

longed ; — a  jesting  phrase,  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the 
bystanders,- — 

"  Good-by,  Nelly !     Take  care  of  yourself!"  and 

"  Good-by,  Aleck !  I  suppose  we  shall  not  see  you  again 
until  you  are  a  fat  Mynheer,  whose  thick  tongue  will  be 
unintelligible  to  untravelled  ears." 

This  was  all !  As  he  had  said,  they  were  both  very  young 
then ;  it  was  his  choice  to  leave  her  untrammelled  by  the 
shadow  of  a  pledge.  The  ring  might  have  been  a  friend's 
parting  gift.  She  was  a  woman  now — more  grave,  more 
thoughtful,  more  judicious  than  in  the  days  when  she  seem 
ed  to  prefer  his  society  to  that  of  other  admirers — even  to 
Robert's ;  a  woman  who  had  chosen  for  herself  a  life  part 
ner,  and  who  would,  in  seven  weeks  more,  be  his  brother's 
wife! 

He  thought  all  this  over,  without  the  change  of  a  muscle 
or  an  audible  sigh.  His  will  was  strong,  and  his  pride  stub 
born  ;  himself  one  of  the  men  who  can  meet  death,  however 
horrible  its  form,  with  a  steady  or  smiling  front,  if  it  be 
proved  to  be  inevitable,  and  there  are  others  looking  on  to 
mark  how  they  sustain  the  trial. 

His  voice,  cheery  and  unfaltering,  ended  the  protracted 
pause. 

"  Ah,  well,  aunty,  you  and  I  need  not  stay  here  to  em 
barrass  the  movements  of  the  rightful  master  and  mistress 
of  this  establishment.  Greenfield  is  a  dear  and  lovely  spot 
to  us  both,  but  duty  and  expediency  unite  in  forbidding  my 
longer  residence  here.  Maple  Hill  is  sadly  in  want  of  a 
tenant,  and  I  have  always  looked  forward  to  a  settlement 
of  myself  and  worldly  goods  there  when  I  should  be  ready 
to  begin  life  in  earnest.  But  I  cannot  keep  house  by  my 
self,  you  know.  It  would  be  a  doleful  and  disgraceful  Bach 
elor's  Hall,  that  would  cause  you  to  disown  me  forever.  I 
must  have  somebody  to  scold  the  maids,  to  pour  out  my 


262 


coffee  and  lecture  me  occasionally.  You  will  not  mind  the 
change  of  home  so  much  as  if  I  invited  you  to  be  my  com 
panion  in  a  strange  neighborhood  and  unfamiliar  house,  will 
you?" 

"  I  was  born  there,  lived  there  until  your  mother  and 
grandfather  died,  and  your  father  begged  me  to  come  here 
and  take  charge  of  you  boys !" 

A  tear  found  its  way  from  beneath  the  spectacles. 

"And  you  have  no  idea  what  an  exemplary  character  I 
mean  to  become,"  pursued  Aleck.  "  Not  quite  so  good  as 
Robin,  to  be  sure,  but  a  very  decorous  and  decent  young 
man,  notwithstanding  beard  and  meerschaum." 

Miss  Ruth  smiled  up  at  him  affectionately.  Scapegrace 
though  she  was  often  obliged  to  consider  him,  he  had  ever  been 
her  favorite  of  her  adopted  children ;  and  the  vision  of  an 
independent  home  with  him  was  far  more  pleasant,  more  in 
consonance  with  her  tastes,  than  the  thought  of  resigning 
the  insignia  of  authority,  i.  e.,  the  keybasket,  into  the  hands 
of  Robert's  wife,  and  the  meek  acceptance  of  a  secondary 
position  in  the  court  where  she  had  reigned  supreme  for 
upwards  of  twenty  years. 

"You  were  always  kind-hearted  and  generous,  Aleck! 
one  of  the  sort  whose  worst  side  is  the  outside.  I  hope 
you'll  get  a  good  wife  of  your  own  some  day." 

"  Don't  trouble  your  brain  with  such  useless  wishes  and 
unprofitable  imaginings,  aunty!  I  do  not!  Why!  it  is 
ten  o'clock !  Is  Robert  generally  so  late  in  returning  from 
court  ?" 

"  No !  I'm  afraid  he  went  home  with  Colonel  Floyd ! 
He  often  does.  It  is  naturally  hard  work  for  him,  now  he 
is  in  love,  to  pass  the  Belleview  gate  on  his  road,  especially 
when  he  thinks  that  there  is  nobody  here  but  me,  and  knows 
that  I  am  never  lonesome.  We  had  not  an  idea  of  seeing 
you  for  a  fortnight  to  come.  How  stupid  and  selfish  it  was 


263 


in  me  not  to  think  sooner  of  sending  a  boy  to  the  colonel's 
to  inquire  if  he  was  there.  But,  you  see,  I  kept  expecting 
him  every  minute." 

''  Exactly !  I  understand  !  I  am  glad  your  after-thought 
came  so  late.  I  would  not  have  him  disturbed  from  his 
present  agreeable  quarters  on  my  account.  You  think  that 
he  will  not  be  home  to-night,  then  ?" 

"Hardly.  He  usually  stays  at  the  colonel's  all  night 
when  he  goes  there  from  court.  I  suppose  that,  like  most 
other  courting  couples,  they  sit  up  till  past  midnight,  and  he 
doesn't  like  to  trouble  me  by  coming  in  so  late.  I  should 
think  they  would  have  talked  it  all  out  before  this  time,  but 
that  is  always  the  way.  Engaged  people  never  seem  at  a 
loss  what  to  say  to  one  another." 

"  Theirs  is  a  theme  which  is  exhaustless,  until  after  mar 
riage !"  said  Aleck,  yawning  and  rising.  "I  feel  tired  after 
my  journey,  and  it  is  already  long  past  your  bed-time. 
Good-night!" 

His  chamber  was  the  same  he  had  shared  with  Robert 
until  their  separation,  two  years  before ;  the  same  in  which 
he  had  lain,  helpless  and  suifering,  during  the  weeks  that  fol 
lowed  the  accident  already  described.  There  was  a  bright 
fire  on  the  hearth ;  his  mother's  picture,  the  object  of  his 
boyish  idolatry,  still  smiled  down  at  him  from  its  place 
above  the  mantel ;  every  article  of  the  old  familiar  furniture 
was  endeared  to  him  by  its  associations  of  a  happy  childhood 
and  joyous,  hopeful  youth,  yet  the  place  was  inexpressibly 
cheerless  and  desolate  ;  awoke  a  sensation  of  homesickness, 
more  acute  than  any  he  had  felt  in  the  way-side  inns  of  for 
eign  lands. 

He  looked  through  the  window.  The  moon  shone  with 
fitful  lustre  between  flying  clouds  ;  the  high  autumn  wind 
roared  through  a  pine-grove  to  the  right  of  the  house,  and 
tore  showers  of  leaves  from  other  trees — the  dismantled 


264 


boughs  groaning  in  every  fibre  as  they  gave  up  their  summer 
treasures.  It  was  a  weird,  dreary  night  to  a  solitary  and  sad 
watcher,  whether  his  lonely  vigil  were  kept  above  a  dead 
form  or  a  dead  hope  ;  a  night  to  make  friends  draw  closer  the 
ring  surrounding  the  social  blaze,  and  talk  more  earnestly 
and  frankly  ;  a  night  to  cause  lovers  to  cling  more  nearly  and 
fondly  to  one  another,  to  feel,  as  they  had  never  done  before, 
the  warmth  and  blessedness  and  glory  of  that  heart  sunshine 
which  beamed  the  fairer  for  the  rush  and  crash  of  outward 
storms. 

"  This  is  my  welcome  home  !" 

He  left  his  look-out ;  went  to  a  trunk  which,  with  the  rest 
of  his  baggage,  stood  against  the  wall,  unstrapped  and  open 
ed  it,  and  took  from  its  depths  a  pretty  casket.  The  lid  of 
this  was  raised,  and  a  subtle  perfume  stole  through  the  apart 
ment — the  odor  of  rose-leaves.  Then,  the  entire  contents 
of  the  box  were  emptied  upon  the  table  :  notes,  dried  flowers, 
a  knot  of  blue  ribbon — lastly,  a  lady's  cambric  handkerchief, 
with  dark-red  stains  upon  it.  With  this,  the  rude  compress 
of  moss  and  bruised  herbs  had  been  bound  upon  his  shoulder 
on  that  memorable  day.  One  corner  bore  a  name.  He  tore 
this  off  and  threw  it  into  the  fire,  turning  his  back  that  he 
might  not  see  it  burn ;  the  rest,  cambric,  papers,  withered 
stalks  and  petals,  were  rent  into  small  bits,  not  impatiently, 
but  carefully,  deliberately,  as  one  performs  a  solemn  duty, 
re-collected  and  returned  to  the  casket.  The  November 
blast  screamed  hoarsely  past  his  ear  as  he  lifted  the  sash. 
In  a  second  it  caught  the  pile  of  fragments ;  whirled  them 
aloft ;  dashed  them  downwards ;  scattered  them  far  and 
wide  over  plain,  hill,  and  grove. 

"  So  let  it  be !"  was  all  Aleck  said,  as  he  lowered  the 
window. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  265 


CHAPTER    II. 

THERE  was  no  lack  of  cheerful  company  in  Colonel 
Floyd's  parlor  that  evening.  The  colonel  himself  read  the 
papers  he  had  taken  from  the  post-office  in  the  afternoon — 
seated  by  a  round  stand  at  the  warmest  corner  of  the  fire 
place.  So  real  was  his  absorbed  interest  in  the  sheet  he 
held,  that  his  presence  imposed  less  restraint  than  it  was 
wont  to  exert  upon  the  innocent  hilarity  of  the  junior  por 
tion  of  the  party.  He  had  enjoyed  in  his  younger  days  the 
reputation  of  being  the  handsomest  man,  the  best  rider,  and 
most  graceful  dancer  in  the  county;  and  the  years  which 
had  frosted  his  hair,  and  made  rigid  the  once  flexible  lines 
of  his  face,  had  not  bowed  the  stately  form,  robbed  the  eye 
of  its  fire,  or  the  limbs  of  their  strength.  He  looked  proud 
and  resolute,  and  he  was  both  of  these,  and  more, — proud, 
with  a  haughtiness  that  inspired  dislike  and  fear,  ratherthan 
respect ;  arrogant  and  overbearing  to  an  extent  which  made 
him  popular  throughout  the  region  where  he  would  have 
ruled  with  absolute  sway.  In  his  family,  he  was  an  auto 
crat;  upon  his  plantation,  a  despot,  whose  laws  were 
Draconian  in  severity ;  everywhere,  in  theory  and  in  prac 
tice,  he  was  an  aristocrat  of  the  sternest  type.  It  was  a  com 
mon  saying  among  the  working  classes,  that  it  was  almost  as 
much  as  a  poor  man's  life  was  worth,  to  press  Colonel  Floyd 
for  the  payment  of  a  just  debt ;  yet  no  tradesman  or  me 
chanic  durst  refuse  him  unlimited  credit.  It  is  a  sight  that 
may  be  seen  every  day  in  other  communities,  North,  East 
12 


266 


and  West,  where  the  feudal  system  has  never  prevailed  as 
it  did  at  the  date  of  our  tale,  in  this  old  Potomac  county  of 
Maryland, — I  mean  the  supremacy  accorded  to  a  single  in 
dividual  by  those,  his  equals  and  betters  in  all  respects — 
merely  because  he,  out  of  the  pride  and  mightiness  of  his 
inflated  heart,  chooses  to  proclaim  himself  a  prince  and  a 
lord  over  them.  Some  of  those  whom  he  counts  his  vassals 
are  too  indolent,  others  too  cowardly,  others  still  too  amiable, 
to  dispute  his  reign,  and,  unchecked,  he  flaunts  his  dictator 
ship  in  the  eyes  of  his  amused  or  disgusted  fellow-citizens, 
until  a  Tyrant,  stronger  and  grimmer  yet  than  he,  forces 
him  to  discharge  the  last  humiliating  debt  of  Nature ; 
proves  him  to  have  been,  after  all  his  pomp  of  place  and  cir 
cumstance,  but  common  clay. 

The  Floyds  had,  from  their  family  seat  of  Belleview, 
governed  the  adjacent  county  for  three  generations  back; 
and  distasteful  as  was  the  bearing  of  the  present  proprietor 
to  his  well-born,  well-bred,  and  wealthy  neighbors,  they 
never  thwarted,  very  rarely  contradicted  him.  Behind  his 
back,  he  was  stigmatized  as  violent,  unscrupulous,  and  dissi 
pated — a  roue  and  a  gambler ;  a  bully  and  a  swindler ;  yet, 
not  one  of  his  uncomplimentary  friends  ever  thought  of 
testifying  his  disapproval  of  a  course  so  disreputable  by  de 
clining  the  hospitalities  of  Belleview,  and  obliging  his  wife 
and  daughters  to  do  the  same  ;  none  withheld  from  him  the 
grasping  hand  and  hearty  salutation  of  delighted  civility ; 
few  there  were  who  did  not  feel  and  express  themselves  as 
pleased  and  honored  by  his  visits  to  their  houses. 

Upon  the  opposite  side  of  the.  hearth  was  Mrs.  Floyd, 
mild,  inane,  and  faded,  as  might  have  been  predicted  of  the 
sweet-tempered,  spiritless  beauty  and  heiress,  who  had,  at 
eighteen,  wedded  this  imperious  partner.  She  feared  her 
husband,  loved  her  children,  and  found  her  chief  pleasures 
in  housekeeping,  gardening,  and  the  participation  in  an  occa- 


267 


ional  weak  and  innocuous  dish  of  gossip  with  some  con 
genial  visitor.  At  the  period  of  her  marriage,  she  had 
epresented  several  ciphers,  prefaced  by  a  more  important 
igure,  and  these,  it  was  surmised,  had  formed  her  principal 
ecommendation,  malgre  her  bright  eyes  and  peachy 
*loom,  in  the  sight  of  the  bridegroom.  But  beneath  his 
ot,  hasty  fingers,  the  sum  of  which  she  was  the  sign  and 
eal  had  melted  away,  until  the  total  and  her  consequence 
jo  her  spouse  had  dwindled,  in  a  like  proportion,  to  a  for- 
orn  0.  Yet  they  maintained  the  state  they  had  borne  when 
ash  was  plenty,  and  houses  nor  lands  were  overshadowed 
jy  cumbering  mortgages.  In  mansion  and  farm  and  sta- 
iles,  there  was  no  symptom  of  the  decay  of  wealth  or  gen- 
ility.  People  said  that  they  were^  going  down  hill,  Avhile 
jll  agreed  that,  during  the  colonel's  lifetime,  his  family 
rould  never  be  allowed  to  soil  their  dainty  feet  with  the 
fmd ;  that  to  those,  reared  as  they  had  been,  lies  a  dread 
ad  hopeless  quagmire, — filthy  and  unfathomable,  in  the  vale 
f  Poverty.  As  for  Mrs.  Floyd,  it  may  be  safely  aflirmed 
lat  the  idea  of  such  a  descent,  the  bare  prospect  or  possibil- 
y  of  this  terrific  fall,  had  never  occurred  to  her  mind. 

She  was  half  dozing  now  over  a  knitted  edging  she  was 
lanufacturing  of  fine  spool  cotton — a  vacant  smile  upon 
jer  features,  a  meaningless  smirk,  that  was  supposed  to  in- 
jicate  excessive  amiability,  which  brightened  mechanically, 
L  now  and  then,  a  merry  out-burst  from  the  group  of 
pung  people  reached  her  drowsy  senses.  This  was  her 
Sual  style  of  entertaining  her  nieces'  visitors. 

This  group,  consisting  of  six  persons, — three  ladies  and  a 
orresponding  number  of  gentlemen, — were  gathered  about 
itable  in  the  middle  of  the  large  room,  engaged,  evidently 
i  their  own  most  lively  gratification,  in  the  game  of  "  Con- 
isquences."  The  table  was  littered  with  the  folded  slips  of 
]iper,  so  well  known  to  the  lovers  of  the  play,  and  each 


268 


one  held  a  pencil.  The  member  of  the  little  band  who! 
would  soonest  have  attracted  the  notice  of  a  stranger,  was] 
Lily  Calvert,  the  younger  of  Colonel  Floyd's  wards,  and] 
his  own  niece.  Her  chair  was  set  in  the  full  glare  of  the 
lamp  that  lighted  the  scribblers  in  their  employment. 
She  was  nearly  nineteen  years  of  age,  but  not  taller  than 
many  girls  are  at  ten,  with  pale  gold  curls  floating  loosely- 
upon  her  shoulders;  exquisitely  shaped  and  extremely* 
small  feet  and  hands ;  large,  melancholy  blue  eyes,  with! 
drooping  fringes,  and  a  voice  clear  and  sweet  as  that] 
of  a  bird.  But  her  complexion,  to  which  she  owed  hew 
pet  name,  now  the  only  one  by  which  she  was  ever 
called,  formed  the  marked  peculiarity  of  her  appear-;" 
ance.  It  was  white  as  the  purest  wax ;  never  warmed  byj 
a  tinge  of  color,  whatever  were  her  feelings  ;  and  her  lipsri 
had,  usually,  a  bluish  tinge.  The  most  obstinate  unbeliever 
in  the  reality  of  such  phenomena  could  not,  in  surveying 
her,  help  crediting  the  explanation  of  this  one,  commonly, 
reported  among  those  who  were  conversant  with  the  family 
history. 

Egbert  Calvert  had  married  Colonel  Floyd's  only  sister^ 
and  settled  with  frer  upon  the  estate  bequeathed  to  her  bw 
her  father.     One  night,  less  than  a  year  from  the  wedding- 
day,  he  was  brought  home  a  corpse,  stark,  cold,  and  bloody, 
having  been  picked  up  from  the  roadside  by  some  belatec 
passers-by.     He  had  not  a  known  enemy  in  the  world ; 
man  was  more  popular  and  respected,  and,  in  the  absence  of 
all  testimony  tending  to  prove  human  agency  in  producing 
his  death,  the  ghastly  cut  upon  the  back  of  his  head,  whicl 
had  crushed  in  the  skull,  was  somewhat  lamely  account 
for  by  the   supposition  that  his  horse — a  fiery  and  imj 
( fectly  broken  colt, — had  thrown  him  with  violence  agains 
the  rocky  road  on  which  he  was   lying  when  found.     Tl 
poor  wife  never  smiled  again ;  seldom  spoke  a  volunt 


269 


word  after  recovering  from  the  swoon  into  which  she  fell 
at  the  fatal  spectacle ;  but  it  was  not  until  Lily's  birth  that 
she  manifested  unmistakable  signs  of  derangement.  Luna- 
37  was  not  reckoned  a  disgrace  in  this  patrician  community. 
On  the  contrary,  its  frequent  appearance  in  the  best,  that 
s  to  say,  the  wealthiest  and  proudest  classes,  caused  it  to 
be  recognized  as  an  aristocratic  complaint,  produced,  as  it 
undoubtedly  was,  by  the  need  of  an  admixture  of  fresh,  new 
olood  with  the  thin,  blue  current  cousin  had  poured  into 
cousin's  veins,  from  one  generation  to  another,  for  a  hun- 
Ired  years  and  more.  The  Floyds  had,  like  the  rest  of 
iiose  who  plumed  themselves  upon  being  of  "  good  old 
stock,"  been  pertinacious  in  the  practice  of  intermarriage, 
jrandfather,  father,  and  son  had  espoused  first  cousins,  and 
ihe  State  Asylum  was  the  more  populous  by  reason  of  their 
idherence  to  ancient  customs. 

So  Charlotte  Calvert,  bereaved  of  husband,  and,  more 
nercifully,  of  reason,  was  consigned  by  her  affectionate 
•elatives  to  the  safe  and  comfortable  retreat  where  others 
of  her  race  were  enjoying  a  peaceful  home ;  her  brother 
tssumed  the  control  of  her  property,  as  guardian  of  her 
;;hild  and  trustee  for  herself,  and  Mrs.  Floyd  opened  her 
motherly  arms  to  the  worse  than  orphaned  babe.  She  had 
.10  daughters  of  her  own, — had  been,  as  the  phrase  is,  "  un 
fortunate"  in  her  children.  Her  eldest  boy  was  born  an 
jdiot,  and,  at  the  time  of  our  story,  was  an  inmate  of  the 
lame  asylum  in  which  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Calvert,  was  confined. 
iChe  second,  a  beautiful,  intelligent  child,  lived  to  be  two 
'rears  old,  and  was  then  snatched  from  her  within  a  day 
lifter  the  commencement  of  the  disorder  by  an  attack  of 
:roup ;  the  third,  a  girl,  died  a  few  hours  after  its  birth. 
?his  event  occurred  almost  simultaneously  with  the  little 
jily's  advent,  and  the  latter  gained,  by  means  of  this  asso- 
iation  and  her  own  sad  helplessness  of  condition,  such  a 


2TO 


hold  upon  the  heart  of  her  foster-mother,  that  the  subse 
quent  arrival  of  four  sons,  three  of  whom  were  still  alive, 
could  not  dispossess  her  of  the  first  place  in  the  good  lady's 
affections.  Her  uncle  did  not  pet  her  ;  he  never  petted  any 
thing,  not  even  his  most  valued  racer;  but  neither  did  he 
scold  and  rebuff  and  cuff  her,  as  it  was  his  habit  to  treat 
his  own  offspring,  and  thus  she  grew  to  regard  herself,  and 
to  be  regarded  by  others,  as  a  favorite  with  him.  She  was  a 
spoiled  child  from  the  beginning  of  her  existence ;  but  more 
self-indulgent  than  selfish  ;  exacting  of  notice  and  love,  and 
disposed  to  be  jealous  of  superior  attentions  bestowed  upon 
others ;  yet  it  was  so  natural  to  admire  and  humor  her ; 
she  was  so  pretty  and  petite,  and  her  naive,  winning  ways 
so  like  those  of  a  gleeful,  graceful  little  girl,  that  it  was  not 
often  she  had  reason  to  complain  of  being  overlooked. 

Her  supporters  on  either  hand  at  the  table  were  Tom 
Shore  and  Junius  Dickson,  beaux  from  the  vicinity,  who 
had  made  this  their  halting-place  on  the  way  homewards 
from  the  county  court-house — quite  a  fashionable  practice 
with  the  young  men  for  twenty  miles  around.  Facing  her 
sat  Virginia  Shore,  Tom's  sister,  an  intimate  friend  of  the 
cousins  and  a  gay-spirited  rattle ;  next  her,  Robert  Lay, 
and  beside  him,  his  betrothed,  Helen  Gardner,  looking  very 
much  as  Aleck's  yearning  heart  was  then  picturing  her  in 
his  fireside  visions,  only  with  a  richer  maturity,  a  ripeness 
of  womanhood  upon  her,  that  Miss  Ruth  may  have  had  in 
her  mind,  when  she  essayed  to  describe  the  change  that  had 
taken  place  in  the  girl  since  her  engagement.  Robert  was 
a  trifle  shorter  than  his  brother,  but  still  a  well-made,  tall 
figure,  with  pleasant  hazel  eyes,  light  hair,  clear  com 
plexion,  a  mouth  that  betokened  sweetness  _of  disposition 
and  delicate  sensibilities,  a  voice  at  once  manly  *and  gentle, 
and  a  full,  curling  auburn  beard.  He  was  a  handsome 
fellow;  companionable  to  a  charm;  easy-tempered  to  a 


WARDS.  271 

fault ;  and  universally  beloved  by  high  and  low.  By  unani 
mous  acclamation,  he  was  chosen  reader  of  the  party ;  and 
in  his  manner  of  collecting  the  folded  slips,  as  each  writer 
pronounced  his  or  hers  ready,  there  was  a  frank,  smiling 
courtesy,  so  natural  and  customary  with  him,  that  he  was 
unaware  of  its  manifestation,  but  which  wrought  its  effect 
upon  those  he  addressed. 

"  Are  you  ready,  Miss  Helen  ?"  he  said  to  his  right-hand 
neighbor,  when  all  the  others  had  given  in  their  contribu 
tions. 

"  Not  quite !  I  am  stupid  to-night !" 

"I  believe  you  are!"  retorted  Lily,  with  a  slight  spice 
of  pettishness  in  her  manner.  "  You  have  been  behindhand 
in  every  round.  If  you  will  write  what  you  are  dreaming 
about  it  will  interest  us,  I  have  no  doubt." 

"Never  mind!  There  is  time  enough,  and  to  spare," 
observed  Robert,  kindly,  as  Helen  bent  down,  her  face 
crimsoning  with  shame  or  impatience,  and  scribbled  away 
desperately  at  the  limited  space  remaining  for  her  to  fill. 

He  pretended,  further  to  relieve  her,  to  be  busied  in 
sorting  the  narrow  strips  of  paper  deposited  in  his  care.  " 

"There!"  Helen  pushed  hers  towards  him,  and  threw 
herself  back  in  her  chair.  "  My  invention  is  exhausted !  I 
shall  retire  at  the  next  round." 

"  Do  as  I  do,  and  write  whatever  nonsense  first  occurs 
to  you,"  replied  young  Lay.  "I  should  never  progress 
beyond  a  single  line  if  I  attempted  to  be  brilliant !" 

The  game  of  "  Consequences,"  I  may  as  well  state,  for 
the  information  of  those  who,  from  the  misfortune  of 
ignorance,  or  the  wilfulness  of  superior  wisdom  to  such 
frivolous  amusements,  need  enlightenment  upon  the  subject, 
is  conducted  after  this  wise.  A  half  sheet  of  note-paper  is 
furnished  to  each  person  who  desires  to  take  part  in  the 
entertainment,  and  he  or  she  writes  at  the  top  of  this  a 


272 


character  or  personal  description  applicable  to  a  lady — as 
"the  fair  and  witty,"  or  the  "homely  and  shrewish" — folds 
this  down  so  carefully  that  110  part  of  the  writing  is  visible, 
and  passes  it  to  the  one  sitting  next  the  said  him  or  her,  on 
one  side,  receiving  at  the  same  moment  a  similarly  prepared 
page  from  the  neighbor  on  the  other  hand.  Next  comes 
the  lady's  name,  usually  that  of  some  friend  or  acquaintance 
of  the  writer ;  then,  a  description  masculine,  and  a  name ; 
the  place  of  meeting ;  what  he  said,  and  her  reply ;  the  con 
sequence  of  the  interview,  and,  as  a  finale,  the  world's  opin 
ion  upon  the  matter.  The  best  fun  of  the  performance  is 
the  marvellous  and  oftentimes  ludicrous  coherence  of  the 
narrative,  written  piece-meal  by  so  many  hands,  each  scribe 
being  perfectly  ignorant  of  a  single  word  that  precedes  his 
own  addition  to  the  story.  There  were  a  few  blushes  and  a 
great  deal  of  laughter  upon  the  present  occasion,  as  various 
good  hits  and  strikingly  appropriate  allusions  were  given  to 
the  auditors  in  the  reader's  best  style. 

At  length  came  a  tale  that  awoke  different  sensations  in 
the  breasts  of  all,  that  was  felt  acutely  by  at  least  one  mem- 
laer  of  the  company : — 

"  The  graceful  and  winning  Miss  Lily  Calvert  and  the  re 
fined  and  chivalrous  Mr.  Robert  Lay  met  in  Colonel  Floyd's 
parlor.  He  said, 

" '  How  happy  could  I  be  with  either, 
"Were  t'other  dear  charmer  away!' 

"  She  answered,  weepingly, 

" '  The  moon  looks  on  many  brooks ; 
The  brook  sees  but  one  moon.' 

"The  consequence  was,  .that  the  loss  of  her  wits  followed 
upon  that  of  her  heart,  and  his  comfort  and  happiness  were 
not  at  all  damaged  thereby.  The  world  said — c  Poor  thing ! 
what  else  could  have  been  anticipated  from  her  antece 
dents  !' " 


273 


One  or  two  tried  to  raise  a  spasmodic  laugh,  and  nobody 
looked  at  Lily,  whose  forced  mirth  jarred  upon  every  ear, 
while  her  taper  fingers  interlaced  each  other  tightly  on  the 
table. 

"  Bah !"  said  Helen.  "  That  is  the  flattest  thing  we  have 
heard  yet !  Give  us  another,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Lay." 

No  one,  unless  it  were  himself,  in  their  private  interviews, 
ever  heard  her  call  him  "Robert"  now-a-days. 

"This  looks  racy!"  remarked  he,  catching  a  glimpse  of 
the  names  heading  the  one  he  was  unfolding. 

"  The  witty  and  accomplished  Miss  Helen  Gardner,  and 
the  learned  but  cynical  Mr.  Alexander  Lay,  met  behind  a 
turkey-blind.  He  said — '  False  as  fair  !  did  you  not  plight 
your  troth  to  me  ?  Was  not  this  ring  the  seal  ?'  She  said — 
'Alas!  it  is  too  late!  They  told  me  you  loved  another!' 
The  consequence  was  that  she  married  his  brother,  and  he 
lived  and  died  a  crusty,  rusty,  fusty  old  bachelor.  The 
world  said — 'It  is  dangerous,  this  playing  with  edge- 
tools  !' " 

Robert's  smile  was  free  of  all  unpleasant  meaning,  as  he 
flashed  a  merry  glance  at  his  betrothed. 

"  Reefs  ahead  1"  he  said,  in  a  playful  "  aside,"  inaudible  to 
others,  amidst  the  chattering  that  succeeded  the  reading  of 
this,  the  last  paper.  "I  must  be  on  the  look-out!  You 
know  that  we  expect  this  dangerous  rival  of  mine  in  the 
course  of  a  week  or  two,  do  you  not  ?" 

"  No — I  had  not  heard  !     Let  me  look  at  that  nonsense !" 

She  took  the  slip  he  was  twisting  between  his  fingers, 
perused  it  scrutinizingly,  probably  to  assure  herself  that  no 
two  sentences  were  penned  by  the  same  individual,  cast  it 
down  contemptuously  upon  the  pile  with  the  rest,  arose, 
and  left  the  room. 

The  entrance  of  a  servant  with  a  tray  of  refreshments  di 
verted  the  attention  of  the  others,  and  Robert  was  not  long 
12* 


274 


in  finding  and  improving  a  favorable  opportunity  for  follow 
ing  Helen.  They  often  met,  when  there  was  company  in 
the  parlor,  in  the  dining-room  just  across  the  hall,  where  the 
fire  was  never  suffered  to  go  out  in  cold  weather  ;  and  since 
he  had  signified  to  her,  earlier  in  the  evening,  his  wish  to  see 
her  alone  by-and-by,  it  argued  no  unreasonable  vanity  on 
his  part  that  he  fully  expected  to  find  her  there  awaiting 
him.  But  the  room  was  deserted.  The  fire  had  been  re 
cently  replenished,  doubtless  by  some  sagacious  servant,  in 
anticipation  of  the  conference  he  hoped  for,  and  the  ruddy 
shine  showed  him  distinctly  every  object  in  the  spacious 
apartment.  An  unlighted  candle  was  on  the  table ;  two 
comfortable  chairs  were  set  in  affectionate  and  suggestive 
proximity  to  one  another,  in  front  of  the  hearth. 

"  She  will  be  in  presently !"  was  his  mental  comment  upon 
the  disappointment,  and  he  sat  down  to  bide  her  pleasure  or 
convenience. 

Five — ten — fifteen  minutes  went  by,  and  while  he  chafed 
less  at  the  delay  than  a  more  irritable  man  would  have  done, 
he  yet  experienced  a  growing  and  disagreeable  sentiment 
of  impatience. 

"  At  last !" 

Footsteps  approached  along  the  corridor.  He  stood  up 
to  welcome  the  late-comer,  with  no  intention  of  offering  her 
a  reproach,  or  even  a  remonstrance.  True  gallant  that  he  was, 
he  never  thought  of  assailing  her  with  such.  If  he  were  her 
knight,  he  was  her  vassal  likewise ;  bowed  to  her  will  in  glad 
humility,  as  in  courtly  grace.  His  countenance  changed  as 
he  listened.  Helen's  light  foot  never  trod  the  floor  with  that 
lazy  shuffle ;  nor  was  it  her  habit,  even  in  the  days  when  she 
"  used  to  be  so  wild,"  to  proclaim  her  coming  by  whistling — 
"Possum  tip  a  gum-tree, 
Eaccoon  in  a  hollow." 

But  it  was  a  melodious  whistle,  and  deftly  executed ;  the 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  275 

original  melody  being  artistically  varied  by  fantastic  trills 
and  cadenzas ;  and  it  was  a  good-humored  face  which  was 
illumined  by  the  candle  borne  in  the  intruder's  hand. 

"  Beg  pardon,  Mars'  Robert !  Come  for  Marster  heavy 
boots !  He  want  'em,  byme  by  !" 

He  was  a  negro  lad  of  fourteen  or  thereabouts — boot 
black,  errand-boy,  and  assistant  waiter ;  a  knowing,  saucy 
imp,  who  stood  in  awe  of  but  two  living  creatures,  his  mas 
ter  and  his  father. 

"  Dey  ain't  in  here,  arter  all !"  he  ejaculated,  inwell-feign- 
ed  surprise,  having  made  an  exploration  of  all  unlikely  and 
impossible  hiding-places  for  the  required  articles,  such  as  the 
sideboard,  knife-box,  and  plate-warmer.  "  Dat's  too  bad !" 

"  I  saw  a  pair  in  the  hall  when  I  came  through  just  now," 
said  Robert,  whose  instinct  it  was  to  help  every  one,  no 
matter  how  lowly  his  station,  out  of  trouble,  whatever  might 
be  its  nature. 

"  Thank  you,  sur !     I'm  obleeged  to  you !" 

He  halted,  in  backing  towards  the  door,  as  if  just  struck  by 
an  idea. 

"If  you  please,  Mars'  Robert,  would  you  mind  asking 
Miss  Helen  if  she  will  have  a  fire  made  up  in  de  office  ?  It's 
cold  for  her  to  be  a-settin'  thar  to-night — and  damp  besides. 
To  be  sure,  the  chimbly  has  what  you  may  call  a  'different 
deliverer,  and  does  smoke  pretty  bad  for  a  while  arter  the 
fire  is  kindled — but,  ef  she  likes  to  set  thar,  she  ought  to 
have  one,  and  I'm  'tirely  at  hur  survice — ef  you'd  be  so  kind 
as  to  say  so  to  hur,  sur !" 

"I  will!     Here,  Gabriel!" 

He  tossed  the  boy  a  coin,  which  was  caught  dexterously, 
and,  without  advancing  to  hear  the  profusion  of  thanks  that 
ensued  upon  the  receipt  of  the  gift,  Robert  entered  the  long, 
dark  hall  by  which  Gabriel  had  come  to  the  dining-room. 
This  led  to  a  wing  of  the  building  which  was  mostly  taken 


276 

up  by  store-rooms  and  closets,  and  at  the  farther  end  by 
what  was  termed  "  the  office."  Not  that  any  of  the  Floyds 
had  ever  professed  to  practise  law  or  medicine,  unless  it  had 
been  some  obscure  younger  son,  whose  very  name  had 
passed  away  from  family  traditions.  No  one  now  upon  the 
earth  knew  from  what  usage  or  circumstance  the  apartment 
had  derived  its  name — only,  it  had  always  been  called  "  the 
office"  within  the  memory  of  this  generation,  and  innova 
tions  upon  former  customs  were  not  popular  in  the  con 
nection.  There  were  scores  of  ancient  volumes,  with  yellow 
pages  and  worm-eaten  bindings,  packed  into  two  book-cases 
on  different  sides  of  the  room ;  in  one  corner  was  an  anti 
quated  spinet,  its  keys  dumb  or  discordant,  its  gayly  orna 
mented  top  cracked  and  defaced ;  in  another  a  dusty  spin 
ning-wheel,  minus  a  leg,  leaned  against  the  wall.  There 
were  chairs  in  various  stages  of  dilapidation — legless,  back 
less,  and  bottomless ;  and  a  spindle-shanked,  rickety  table 
or  two ;  a  general  flavor  of  mustiness  and  cobwebs,  the  chil 
liness  of  a  vaul£  and  the  choking  dryness  of  a  disused  garret 
pervading  all. 

Any  thing  more  ill-suited  to  be  the  bower  selected  by 
beauty  for  lovers'  tryst  could  hardly  be  imagined,  yet  Robert 
Lay  saw  and  thought  of  nothing  except  the  figure  that  start 
ed  back  from  the  moonlighted  window,  as  he  unclosed  the 
creaking  door.  He  spoke  promptly,  to  reassure  her. 

"  Nelly !     Darling !  why  are  you  here  all  alone  ?" 

N"o  answer ;  but  there  was  light  enough  for  him  to  per 
ceive  her  further  recoil  into  the  darkness  behind  her;  to 
note  the  drooping  head  and  arms  crossed  upon  her  breast. 

"  Are  you  unhappy  ?  Is  there  any  thing  which  I  can  do 
for  you  ?  Or,  had  you  rather  I  should  not  interrupt  you  at 
present?"  he  pursued,  not  offering  to  advance  from  his 
position  at  the  entrance. 

"  IsTo  !  no !"  she  laughed,  and  came  forward  to  meet  him. 


277 


"This  is  my  old  Cave  of  Melancholy — the  grotto  of  Tropho- 
nius;  my  chosen  resort  in  my  earlier  and  more  haughty 
days.  Oh !  the  tears  that  have  watered  these  dusty  boards ! 
the  bursts  of  angry  and  pathetic  declamation  to  which  these 
stained  walls  have  lent  patient  ears !  But  you  see  I  can 
laugh  now  in  reviewing  those — my  callow  days  !" 

Robert  was  not  deceived  by  this  show  of  high  spirits. 
He  had  taken  her  hand  and  drawn  her  to  the  window,  while 
she  was  speaking.  Her  cheeks  were  flushed,  her  hand  hot 
in  his. 

"  And  the  naughty  world  has  dared  to  use  you  ill  again, 
has  it,  although  you  are  now  a  full-fledged  bird  ?" 

"Did  I  say  so?"  she  asked,  in  quick  evasion. 

"  I  infer  as  much,  from  finding  you  in  the  depths  of  your 
sorrowful  grotto." 

"  Oh !  my  visit  to-night  was  a  whim.  Not  that  I  have 
not  had  a  touch  of  the  blues  all  day — " 

"I  have  observed  this  evening,  that  you  were  hardly 
in  your  usual  spirits — a  trifle  below  concert  pitch,  I  should 
say.  Will  you  not  let  me  share  your  trouble  or  annoyance  ? 
relieve  it,  if  I  can  ?" 

He  ventured  to  steal  his  arm  around  her !  the  love  and 
sympathy  depicted  in  his  countenance  were  plainly  to  be 
read  by  the  brightness  of  the  moonbeams,  pouring  over 
them  at  that  instant.  She  did  not  repel  him,  albeit  she  was 
generally  shy  of  caresses  from  her  betrothed.  She  even 
looked  up,  as  his  soothing,  lovefull  accents  saluted  her  ears  ; 
then,  meeting  that  eloquent  gaze,  burst  into  a  stormy  flood 
of  tears,  and  buried  her  face  in  her  hands. 

"  Robert !  Robert !  if  I  could  only  tell  you  all !" 

"Perhaps  that  'all'  is  not  so  profound  a  secret  to  me  as 
you  imagine,  dearest !" 

He  clasped  her  more  firmly,  as  she  would  have  started 
from  his  side. 


278 


"  Love's  eyes  are  very  keen,  and  mine  have  discerned 
much  that  you,  from  an  overstrained,  unreasonable  sense  of 
honor,  would  have  concealed." 

Her  sobbing  had  ceased,  but  her  head  was  bowed  more 
lowly  still,  and  she  trembled  violently. 

"  In  this  respect,  and  in  this  alone,  I  have  been  disposed  to 
accuse  you  of  injustice  to  me,  Nelly.  When  I  gave  you  my 
love,  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  when  you  accepted  it — 
for  I  cannot  remember  the  time  when  my  heart  was  not 
yours ! — when  you  accepted  my  love,  I  gave  you  my  whole 
confidence,  and  entreated  that  you  should  be  equally  unre 
served  with  me.  While  I  cannot  fail  to  admire  and  appre 
ciate  the  delicacy  that  has  restrained  you  upon  this  point, 
for  it  is  both  a  difficult  and  a  delicate  matter  to  bring  a 
charge  of  unworthiness  against  one  who  is  so  nearly  re 
lated—" 

She  threw  off  his  arm ;  raised  a  pale,  haughty  face,  whose 
flashing  eyes  fairly  appalled  him. 

"  You  are  laboring  under  a  strange  misapprehension,  Mr. 
Lay  !  I  have  no  accusation  of  any  kind,  certainly  none  of 
unworthiness,  to  bring  against  the  person  of  whom  you 
speak.  Your  information  is  utterly  incorrect,  or  your  im 
agination  has  wandered  wildly,  if  you  believe  the  contrary." 

"  Nelly !"  articulated  the  astonished  lover,  "  listen  to  me ! 
It  is  not  my  imagination  that  wanders  now.  Surely,  the  \ 
bond  which  unites  you  to  him  who  hopes,  in  less  than  two 
months,  to  call  you  his  wife,  is  as  strong  as  that  binding  you 
to  Colonel  Floyd — your  guardian,  indeed,  but  merely  your 
uncle-in-law  !  I  ask  your  forgiveness,  if  I  have  erred  in  sup 
posing  that  this  house  was  an  uncongenial  home,  from  which 
you  have  often  longed  to  escape ;  if  I  have  fancied  that  Col 
onel  Floyd  was,  at  times,  a  harsh,  and,  to  one  of  your  dispo 
sition,  an  unwelcome  protector.  But,  while  sympathizing 
with  you  in  the  many  trials  you  bear  so  beautifully,  I  do  not 


279 


pretend  to  deny  that,  out  of  this  bitterness,  has  sprung  some 
sweetness  to  me.  I  have  loved  to  picture  to  myself  how 
different  shall  be  your  daily  life  when  you  are  all  mine,  the 
queen  of  my  home,  partner  of  my  fortunes,  as  you  are  now 
of  my  affections.  Again  let  me  entreat  your  pardon,  if  I 
have  offended  or  grieved  you  by  this  my  first  allusion  to  a 
subject  concerning  which  you  have  heretofore  avoided  speak 
ing.  But,  my  pet — does  it  not  seem  preposterous  in  us, 
situated  as  we  are,  to  cherish  these  foolish,  petty  re 
serves  ?" 

"It  is  I  who  should  sue  for  your  forgiveness.  I  was 
petulant,  unjust!  I  did  not  understand  you!  Will  you 
pardon  me  ?" 

His  answer  was  a  fervent  kiss  upon  the  hand  she  ex 
tended. 

"  It  is  as  you  have  said !"  she  continued,  in  the  same  al 
tered  tone — gentle — pleading — almost  humble.  "  This  has 
never  been  a  happy  home  to  me.  I  will  be  as  frank  as  you 
can  desire  upon  this  theme;  will  discard  the  reserve  you 
deem  foolish  and  childish.  My  aunt  is  kind  and  means  well. 
She  could  not  treat  any  thing  unkindly,  you  know ;  but  al 
though  my  father  was  her  brother,  she  loves  Lily  far  better 
than  she  does  her  niece  by  blood.  I  try  to  please  and  to  be 
dutiful  to  her ;  I  am  sincerely  grateful  for  all  she  has  done 
for  me  ;  but  she  and  Lily  assimilate  more  nearly  to  one 
another  than  she  and  I  ever  can." 

"  I  understand  !"  Robert  smiled,  a  little  queerly — a  gleam 
that  was  not  complimentary  to  Mrs.  Floyd's  favorite. 

"  I  do  not  murmur  at  this,"  added  Helen.  "  I  have  never 
experienced  a  moment's  jealousy  of  Lily.  She  is  lovely  and 
engaging,  and  was  born  to  win  affection.  She  used  to  call 
me  her  sister,  and  seemed  to  esteem  me  as  such ;  yet  she 
has  changed  greatly  within  the  past  six  months.  She  does 
not  mean  to  be  unjust ;  still,  she  treats  me  coldly,  and  will 


280  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

assign  no  reason  for  the  revolution  in  her  feelings  or  man 
ner.     Colonel   Floyd,  my   uncle,  never   professed   any  re 
gard  for  me ;  in  fact,  I  have  seen,  from  the  time  I  came  to 
live  here,  that  he  disliked  me.     He  is  more  irritable  now 
than  ever  before — sometimes  says  things  that  are  very  hard 
to  bear..   Oh,  Robert !  but  for  you  I  should  be  driven  to 
the  belief  that  I  have  not  the  power  of  retaining  the  love  of 
any  one  !     The  scanty  share  of  this,  Life's  best  gift,  which 
Providence  ever  bestowed  upon  me,  seems  all  to  have  slipped 
away.     Nobody  cares  for  me  now — nobody  !" 

She  wrung  her  hands  and  moaned  much. 

It  was  a  moment  of  the  most  exquisite  pain  the  listener 
ever  endured.  Blest — rich  beyond  all  possibility  of  spirit- 
need — in  the  consciousness  of  possessing  her  affection,  he 
could  not  comprehend  this  agony  of  poverty  of  which  she 
eomplained.  He  would  fain  have  hoped  to  fill  her  heart, 
if  not  so  fall  as  she  had  his,  yet,  so  well  as  to  leave  her  no 
cause  for  such  repinings.  Repressing  the  expostulation  he 
felt  would  be  selfish  and  cruel,  he  told  her  anew,  in  words 
whose  fervor  was  not  diminished  by  the  sadness  in  which 
they  were  uttered,  of  his  devotion,  single  and  entire ;  his 
trust  that  coming  years  had  in  reserve  for  her,  sunshine  that 
should  beguile  her  into  forgetfulness  of  the  gloomy  Past. 

She  heard  him  with  calming  pulses  and  more  composed 
mien.  Presently,  the  bowed  face  was  uplifted,  and  her  eyes 
sought  his  again — a  look  that  was  reverence,  admiration — 
was  it  love  ?  So  it  seemed  to  his  sanguine  apprehension,  as 
he  laid  the  unresisting  head  upon  his  breast,  and  bent  to  the 
still  quivering  lips. 

"  My  own  Nelly !  my  precious  Love  !  my  Wife  /" 

A  cloud,  crossing  the  moon's  disc,  wrapped  every  thing  in 
obscurity  for  some  moments.  The  room  was  upon  the 
ground  floor,  the  window-sill  low,  and,  as  the  moonlight 
broke  forth  again  and  suddenly,  there  fell  upon,  or  between 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  281 

the  lovers,  the  shadow  of  a  man — a  long,  dark  figure,  with 
a  gun  in  its  hand. 

Helen  started,  with  a  terrified  ejaculation. 

"  Hush !"  whispered  Robert,  smiling.  "  You  know  who 
it  is?" 

"  Yes — but  it  was  so  unexpected !  so  like  an  evil  thing  ! 
Come  back  here,  where  he  cannot  see  you !  He  may  look 
in." 

"What  if  he  does?"  returned  the  young  gentleman, 
bravely.  "  I  hope  he  will  be  edified  by  the  spectacle  !" 

But  he  retired  into  the  shade  of  the  interior  of  the  apart 
ment  at  her  reiterated  entreaty. 

The  master  of  the  mansion,  for  he  was  the  startling  ap 
parition,  remained  motionless  and  sentry-like,  his  back  to 
wards  the  window,  for  perhaps  three  minutes,  when  his 
shadow  was  joined  by  another,  shorter,  stouter,  and  less 
erect.  This  belonged  to  his  only  confidential  servant,  the 
head  man  in  the  field,  and  sub-manager  of  the  estate, — a 
negro  named  Booker,  who  was  sire  to  the  redoubtable  Ga 
briel,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  slaves  not  only  a  taskmaster, 
exacting  and  pitiless,  but  a  veritable  tyrant,  a  meet  tool  in 
the  hands  of  his  unscrupulous  owner.  He,  too,  had  his 
weapon,  a  thick  cowhide,  and,  after  a  brief  conference,  the 
pair  moved  on. 

"  Do  you  patrol  your  plantation  in  person  ?"  questioned 
Helen,  abruptly. 

"  Neither  in  person,  nor  by  proxy  !  On  the  contrary,  I 
have  never  permitted  any  patrolling  gang  to  enter  or  search 
my  servants'  quarters,  except  upon ,  very  rare  occasions, 
when  they  had  a  warrant  to  examine  my  premises,  togethei 
with  those  of  others  in  the  neighborhood,  for  stolen  prop 
erty." 

"  I  am  very  glad !  I  cannot  describe  to  you  the  sensa 
tions  of  disgust  and  dread  which  I  experience,  whenever  1 


282  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

happen  to  espy  those  two  upon  their  nightly  round.  They 
go  at  irregular  hours,  sometimes  as  early  as  nine  o'clock, 
at  others  not  until  midnight,  that  they  may  take  trespassers 
by  surprise.  Every  person  is  expected  to  be  in  his  cabin  by 
ten,  and  if  a  visitor  be  discovered,  he  is  peremptorily  order 
ed  off  if  he  has  a  pass — punished  if  he  has  not.  You  must 
have  heard  that  Colonel  Floyd  shot  a  poor  fellow,  one  of 
the  Reverdy  servants,  last  year  ?" 

"  I  did  !  But  he  caught  him  thieving,  did  he  not  ?  That 
is  the  popular  version  of  the  transaction." 

"  That  was  the  story  set  in  circulation  to  palliate  the  act, 
for  Mr.  Reverdy  is  not  a  man  to  submit  to  wanton  injury, 
as  Colonel  Floyd  well  knows.  But  the  facts  of  the  case  are 
just  these  : — The  negro  who  was  shot,  a  very  decent,  well- 
behaved  young  fellow,  was  in  love  with  Sally,  my  maid. 
For  some  reason,  best  known  to  himself,  Colonel  Floyd  con 
ceived  a  dislike  for  him,  and  forbade  his  coming  upon  the 
plantation, '  with  his  master's  permission  or  without.'  I  was 
aware  that  they  still  met  clandestinely,  in  spite  of  this  pro 
hibition,  and  several  times  warned  Sally  of  the  danger  they 
incurred  by  so  doing.  One  night  they  were  straying  along 
the  edge  of  the  melon-patch,  when  Colonel  Floyd  hailed 
them  by  name,  and  demanded  what  they  were  doing  there. 
The  girl  ran  one  way,  the  man  another.  Unfortunately, 
he  went  directly  across  the  field  of  melons.  When  midway, 
he  was  fired  at  and  severely  wounded.  Appearances  sup 
ported  the  statement  of  his  pursuers — Booker  was  in  attend 
ance  upon  his  master — that  he  was  in  the  act  of  purloining 
the  melons,  and  '  on4  the  side  of  his  oppressor  there  was 
power.'  Poor  Sally !  it  nearly  killed  her !  She  is  a  good 
girl,  and  sincerely  attached  to  Thomas,  her  admirer." 

"  We  will  make  up  the  match  again,  and  give  them  a 
grand  wedding  at  Greenfield,  when  Christinas  is  over,"  was 
the  reply.  "Would  you  be  very  seriously  afflicted  if  some 


283 


evil-minded  or  careless  hunter  were  to  shoot  me  in  like 
manner,  wing  me,  as  a  certain  fair  damsel  of  my  acquaint 
ance  once  served  poor  Aleck  ?" 

"  Don't,  please  !"  she  begged,  in  a  tone  whose  distress 
touched,  while  it  flattered  him. 

"  I  am  a  selfish  dog  !  inconsiderate  and  unkind,  to  permit 
you  to  stay  in  this  cold  vault  of  a  place  so  long !"  he  said, 
anxiously.  "  Your  hands  are  like  two  icicles,  and  you  are 
positively  shivering !  There  is  a  fire  in  the  dining-room,  and 
I  want  to  read  you  Aleck's  last  letter.  Won't  he  be  over 
whelmed  by  the  pleasant  surprise  we  have  in  store  for 
him?" 

"  Do  you  mean  that  you  have  never  told  him — " 

"That  we  were  engaged  ?  Never !  It  was  hard  work  to 
keep  the  delightful  secret,  but  I  could  not  do  the  subject 
justice  upon  paper,  and  then  again  I  owed  him  a  Roland  for 
the  Oliver  he  gave  me,  in  writing  the  pretty  tale  of  his  Ger 
man  betrothal  to  Aunt  Ruth,  and  never  whispering  it  to  me ! 
He  ought  to  be  shot  for  the  trick — the  dear  old  fellow !" 

It  was  at  this  moment  the  shower  of  paper  fragments  was 
given  to  the  bitter  wind.  The  brothers  each  took  his  last 
look  at  the  stormy  moonlight  at  the  same  time. 


284  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

HELEN  GARDNER  sat  sewing  with  her  maid,  in  her  chamber 
upon  the  following  day,  when  Virginia  Shore  and  Lily  burst 
in  upon  her  quiet.  They  had  just  returned  from  a  shopping 
expedition  to  the  neighboring  hamlet,  dignified  by  the  name 
of  a  village. 

"  Guess  who  has  come  at  last !" 

"  Whom  do  you  think  we  met  at  the  Post  Office  !"  they 
cried  in  concert. 

"  The  queen  of  England,  or  a  peer  of  the  realm  at  the 
very  least,  if  one  may  judge  from  the  state  into  which  the 
encounter  has  thrown  you  both  !"  responded  Helen,  with  pro 
voking  coolness. 

"Pshaw !  nonsense !  make  a  real  guess !"  insisted  Virginia. 

"  The  Great  Mogul,  or  the  Emperor  of  Timbuctoo — pos 
sibly,  the  Lord  High  Chamberlain  of  her  maj  esty,  the  Em 
press  of  Borrio-boola-Gha !"  was  Helen's  next  attempt. 
u  Sally !  take  these  young  ladies'  bonnets  and  shawls,  and 
set  chairs  for  them!" 

She  went  on  with  her  needlework,  which  was  a  portion 
of  her  trousseau. 

"A  more  interesting  personage  than  any  you  have  yet 
named !"  Lily  walked  up  to  her  cousin,  and  slipped  her 
little  hand  under  her  chin,  that  she  might  better  study  her 
expression  as  the  news  was  communicated :  "  Alexander  the 
Great !" 

"  Certainly  the  most  distinguished  Zay-man  of  this  re 
gion  !"  Virginia  supplied  an  additional  hint. 

If  there  were  suspicious  scrutiny  in  the  gaze  which  Lily 


285 


would  have  had  convey  only  the  impression  of  arch  mirthful- 
ness,  its  end  was  foiled  for  that  time.  Helen  calmly  released 
her  face  from  the  hold  of  the  pretty  hand. 

"  Indeed  !  he  has  arrived  unexpectedly !  His  friends  did 
not  look  for  him  until  next  week,  at  the  earliest.  I  hope  he 
is  in  good  plight." 

"  Superb  !  magnificent !  irresistible !"  rejoined  Virginia, 
clasping  her  fingers  and  rolling  up  her  eyes  in  tragi-cornic 
earnestness.  "  Oh,  my  poor  stricken  heart !" 

"  Let  Sally  unhook  your  dress,  so  that  the  afflicted  organ 
can  thump  more  freely!"  recommended  Helen.  "  Or,  if  the 
palpitation  is  very  alarming,-  try  a  little  hartshorn  and 
lavender !" 

"  Is  that  whatf  you  take  when  you  are  thus  affected  ?"  ques 
tioned  the  young  lady,  plaintively. 

"  Always !"  Helen  answered,  gravely. 

"  Then,  Sally !  if  hartshorn  be  the  cure  of  love,  bring  it  on !" 
She  actually  made  the  amused  handmaiden  pour  out  a  few 
drops  of  the  sedative  mixture  into  a  glass,  and  dilute  the 
potion  with  water ;  then  drank  it  off,  and  executed  a  grimace. 

"Faugh!  what  stuff!  the  remedy  is  worse  than  the 
disease !" 

Lily  looked  supremely  disdainful  of  all  this  nonsense. 

"  How  can  you  act  so  ridiculously,  Virginia  ?  And  you 
have  not  once  thought  to  deliver  your  Irresistible's  message 
to  Helen!" 

The  needlewoman's  complexion  did  vary  slightly  at  this, 
and  the  swift  motion  of  her  hand  was  less  even. 

"  Message  !  he  sent  none  by  me  !  It  was  Mr.  Robert  Lay, 
who  said  that  they  intended  riding  over  this  afternoon." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon !"  said  Lily,  positively,  "but  my  ears 
are  unfortunately  quick,  and  assuredly  heard  him  begin  a  sen 
tence  to  you,  sotto  voce,  with,  'And  my  quondam  playfellow, 
Helen' — I  was  too  honorable  to  listen  any  longer." 


286 


"  Indeed,  my  dear  child,  your  ears  deceived  you  for  once. 
I  have  no  recollection  of  any  such  language,  or  if  it  was  used, 
I  said  that  myself !"  denied  the  rattle.  "  I  was  talking  about 
Helen,  part  of  the  time,  but  there  was  only  a  single  sentence 
spoken  on  the  subject,  I  am  sure." 

"  That  was  what  you  two  were  whispering  about,  at  the 
carriage-door,  was  it  ?" 

"I  shall  not  tell  you!" 

Virginia's  color  arose  suspiciously,  although  she  still 
laughed.  Helen  set  her  teeth  and  held  her  peace,  while  Lily 
sneered  significantly. 

"  Oh,  well !  it  is  none  of  my  business !  I  introduced  the 
matter  because  I  supposed  that  Helen  would  be  glad  to  get 
the  affectionate  greeting  which  I  supposed  *was  committed 
to  your  trust  by  her  brother-in-law,  that  is  to  be.  Nelly, 
dear !  we,  Virginia  and  I,  have  been  talking  heresy  on  our 
way  home.  We  have  decided  that  you  did  not  display  your 
best  taste  in  your  selection.  The  elder  and  dark-haired 
brother  is  unquestionably  the  handsomer  man  of  the  two." 

"  Tastes  differ  !"  replied  Helen.  "  Yours  and  mine  often 
do,  Lily!" 

There  was  nothing  on  the  surface  of  this  speech  to  call  forth 
the  gasp  and  wince  of  surprise  or  pain  with  which  Lily 
drew  in  her  breath,  yet  Helen  remarked  these,  and  also  the 
sudden  quietness  of  manner  with  which  she  next  spoke. 

"  I  am  very  negligent !  I  must  go  and  see  if  I  can  give 
mamma"  (so  she  always  called  Mrs.  Floyd),  "  any  assistance 
in  her  preparations  for  dinner.  I  am  growing  heartily  tired 
of  dining-days !" 

Helen  sewed  on  in  silence  when  she  had  gone,  and  her 
sedate,  almost  stern  composure  was  an  uncomfortable  damper 
upon  Virginia's  merry  mood. 

"  Do  give  me  some  sewing,  Nelly !  something  that  will 
keep  these  idle  hands  out  of  the  mischief  which  some- 


287 


)ody,  who  must  not  be  mentioned,  always  finds  for  such 
to  do!" 

"  I  have  nothing  ready  besides  what  we  are  doing,  thank 
YOU  !" 

"  Your  dresses  are  to  be  made  in  Baltimore,  are  they  not  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  That  is  the  only  decent  and  comfortable  way  of  getting 
ap  a  trousseau — to  commit  it  to  the  profession." 

"  It  is  the  least  troublesome." 

A  protracted  silence,  ended  by  a  desperate  effort  at  re- 
aewed  liveliness  on  the  part  of  the  chatter-box. 

"  Dear  me  !   I  don't  wonder  you  grow  sober  and  thought- 

l  and  matronly  before  your  time,  sitting  here,  stitch- 
ng  eternally  upon  your  wedding-clothes !  The  very  sight 
}f  mine  would  frighten  me  out  of  courage  and  wits  to 
gether  !  If  I  am  ever  married,  it  must  be  upon  half  an 
four's  engagement.  I  should  change  my  mind,  if  I  had 
eisure  to  reflect  seriously  upon  what  was  before  me.  Honor 
aright,  now,  Nelly.  (Sally!  Mrs.  Floyd  is  calling  you!) 
['here  is  nobody  but  our  two  selves  here  now,  dear,  and  I 
3an  be  the  soul  of  secrecy  when  I  choose — don't  you  some- 
imes  get  a  little,  just  a  tiny  bit  out  of  the  notion  of  marry- 
ng  even  so  charming  and  lovable  fellow  as  Robert  Lay — if 
le  does  adore  you  ?  It  must  be  nice  to  be  adored,  though ! 
wish  somebody  would  help  me  to  a  personal  experience 
Upon  the  subject !" 

"If  it  were  only  a  'notion,'  I  have  no  doubt  that  I 
hould,  now  and  then,  waver  in  my  intention," — said  Helen ; 
'probably  reverse  it  completely." 

"  You  mean,  then,  that  it  was  something  more  substantial 
han  a  fancy  for  his  sweet  smile,  his   beautiful  eyes  and 
matchless  whiskers,  that  induced  you  to  say  '  yes'  when  he 
popped  the  question?" 
'   '"I  do!" 


288 


Helen  sustained  the  saucy  examination  unflinchingly. 

"  And  you  really — excuse  my  impertinence  !  but  I  am  an 
humble,  sincere,  and  earnest  inquirer  after  truth,  particularly 
since  I  have  seen  the  resplendent  Alexander — and  you  really 
and  truly  love  this  man,  whom  you  are  to  take  by  the  hand, 
with  all  your  heart,  soul,  and  strength,  and  are  resolved, 
henceforward,  forsaking  all  others,  to  cleave  to  him  and  him 
alone ;  to  love,  honor,  and  obey,  so  long  as  you  both  shall 
live?" 

"  When  the  proper  time  for  putting  that  question  arrives, 
I  shall  be  prepared  with  an  answer." 

Another  freezing  silence. 

"  Have  I  offended  you  ?  It  is  only  poor,  foolish,  rattle- 
pated  Ginnie,  remember,"  pleaded  the  visitor  at  length. 
"  I  am  going  off  to  dress  for  dinner  now.  I  have  a  new 
dress  which  is  perfectly  heavenly !  The  effect  upon  Aleck's 
heart  must  be  great,  but  I  shall  not  enjoy  it  one  whit 
unless  you  assure  me  that  you  are  not  angry  with  me." 

"Have  I  ever  been- out  of  temper  with  you?"     Helen's 
iciness  thawed  as    she    saw  the  half-roguish,  half-penitent 
face.     "  I  know  what  valuation  to  put  on  your  words,  Gin 
nie.     You  would  never  give  your  worst  enemy  a  sly  thru 
in  the  dark,  or  stab  one  to  the  heart  under  pretence  of 
friendly  jest !" 

"  Of  course  I  wouldn't  be  guilty  of  any  such  shockin 
things !  And  we  are  quite  friends  now,  aren't  we  ?  Ir 
never  try  to  put  you  through  Cupid's  catechism  again  s 
long  as  my  name  is  Virginia  Shore,  and  yours  Helen  Garc 
ner.  I  will  wait  until  you  exchange  it  for  Helen  Lay.  My 
isn't  that  beautiful  ?  Kiss  me,  and  I  am  gone !" 

Helen  locked  the  door  after  her. 

"  I  could  not  have  borne  it  two  minutes  longer  !  Pooi 
weak,  pitiful  fool  that  I  am !  whom  straws  like  these  ca 
pierce  to  the  quick !  Oh !  howl  hate  myself!"  She  strucl 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  289 

hard  upon  her  breast  with  her  clinched  hand.  "  And  he 
dared  to  send  a  light  message  to  me  !  could  speak  jestingly 
of  our  former  intercourse  to  that  heedless,  giddy  creature ! 
It  was  like  him  !  His  behavior  has  the  merit  of  consistency, 
to  say  no  more !"  Jfc 

She  took  a  note  from  her  work-box.  Robert  had  sent  it 
to  her  that  morning,  and  thereby  prepared  her  to  expect 
the  tidings  brought  by  the  girls. 

"  MY  DEAEEST  HELEN  : 

"Picture,  as  your  affectionate  heart 

will  teach  you  to  do,  my  surprise  and  happiness  at  finding 
Aleck  here  when  I  returned  home !  I  think  I  have  never 
been  happier  (excepting  once)  in  all  my  life  than  I  am  at 
this  moment,  as  I  scribble  this,  and  the  blessed  old  fellow 
sits,  smilingly,  watching  my  nervous,  wayward  fingers — 
unmanageable  through  very  joy.  He  is  well,  and  better- 
looking  than  ever ;  true  as  steel ;  good  as  gold !  the  same 
noble,  generous  soul  whom  we  parted  with  so  sadly  when 
our  trio  was  broken  two  years  ago.  What  do  you  think  of 
his  having  divined  our  secret  so  far  as  to  provide  himself 
with  a  wedding-present  for  you  before  leaving  Paris  ?  So, 

i  the  surprise  bonbon  I  have  treasured  up  against  his  arrival, 
is  all  thrown  away.     I  always  knew  that  his  instincts  were 

:  unusually  fine.     I  suppose  you  will  slyly  insinuate  that  may- 

I  be  I  am  deficient  in  the  art  of  keeping  a  secret.     I  do  not  de 
ny  it,  when  the  person  to  be  kept  in  the  dark  is  one  I  love. 
"  I  write  to  notify  you  that  you  may  expect  a  visit  from 

j  us  to-day — if  agreeable  to  yourself.     We  shall  probably  be 
with  you  at  dinner-time.     Aleck  is  naturally  impatient  to 
see  you  again ;  and  when  did  I  fail  to  avail  myself  of  any 
and  every  opportunity  of  seeking  your  presence  ? 
"  In  haste,  but  none  the  less  fondly,  your  own, 


290 


She  went  over  it  twice ;  she  had  read  it  many  times  be 
fore,  the  proud  lines  of  her  features  hardening  at  each  word ; 
refolded  it,  and  deliberately  thrust  it  into  the  fire.  Then 
she  unlocked  the  door,  rang  up  her  maid,  and  began  a 
studied  toilette  for  dinner. 

There  was  other  company  expected  to  partake  of  that 
repast.  The  Floyds  kept  an  open  house  from  one  year's 
end  to  the  other,  and  these  impromptu  dinner-parties  were, 
at  the  lowest  computation,  of  semi-weekly  occurrence.  One 
or  two  families  from  the  neighborhood  were  bidden  on  this 
occasion,  as  the  nominal  nucleus  of  the  social  gathering ; 
and  to  this  Lily  and  Virginia  had,  in  the  course  of  their 
morning's  drive,  added  several  other  cavaliers  besides  the 
brothers  Lay.  When  Aleck  and  Robert  presented  them 
selves  in  the  parlor,  their  ears  were  saluted  by  the  hum  of 
many  voices,  and  they  beheld  divers  knots  of  talkers  scat 
tered  about  the  room.  Mrs.  Floyd  entertained  four  or  five 
matrons,  seated  upon  a  sofa  and  in  rocking-chairs  in  one 
corner ;  the  colonel  had  his  cluster  of  politicians  and  fox- 
hunters  upon  the  hearth,  at  the  far  end  of  the  apartment ; 
Virginia  Shore  was  "  carrying  on"  in  her  most  extravagant 
style,  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  surrounded  by  a  ; 
bevy  of  beaux  ;  and  Lily  Calvert — more  ethereal  than  was 
common,  even  with  her,  in  her  blue  silk  robe,  her  sloping 
shoulders  veiled  thinly  by  a  tulle  cape- — had  her  coterie,  at  a  ] 
little  distance  from  her  vivacious  friend. 

Upon  none  of  these  personages,  individually  or  collect 
ively,  did  the  eyes  of  the  fresh  arrivals  rest  for  more  than  i 
second.  Robert  was  quick  to  observe  that  Helen  stood  by 
the  western  window,  chatting  with  Tom  Shore,  and  tha 
she  was  very  beautiful,  as  seen  in  the  rich  glow  of  the  sun 
shine,  streaming  through  the  crimson  curtain ;  and  having 
made  his  bow  to  hostess  and  host,  waited  impatiently  for 
the  subsidence  of  the  buzz  of  welcome  and  congratulation 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  291 

that  swelled  towards  and  around  Aleck.  The  traveller  re- 
3eived  his  old  friends  with  great  apparent  heartiness  and  a 
subdued  show  of  joviality ;  had  a  cheery  word  and  a  hand 
grip  for  the  gentlemen,  and  a  pretty  speech  for  each  lady, 
foung  and  old.  Virginia  Shore  began  to  think,  as  she 
narked  his  progress  from  one  to  another  of  the  fair  ones, 
svho  vied  with  their  fathers  and  brothers  in  the  warmth  of 
;heir  greetings,  that  she  had  acted  very  foolishly — verdantly, 
ihe  expressed  it  to  herself — in  hoarding  up,  as  something 
-oo  beautiful  and  precious  to  be  told  to  Lily  and  Helen,  the 
.ugared  nothings  he  had  breathed  into  her  willing  ear  at 
•he  carriage-door,  that  forenoon. 

All  this  time  Robert  did  not  approach  his  betrothed ; 
nade  his  smile  and  bow  from  afar  off,  the  testimonials  that 
le  acknowledged  and  rejoiced  in  her  presence.     He  wished 
;o  present  his  brother  with  himself  before  her.     Nor  did 
he  stir  from  her  position,  or  manifest  the  slightest  agitation 
It  their  entrance.     She  looked  at  Aleck,  as  politeness  ad- 
ised  and  curiosity  seemed  to  dictate,  when  Tom  Shore  re- 
narked  aside  upon  his  tanned  cheek  and  hirsute  ornaments ; 
Assented  naturally,  yet  nonchalantly,  to  that  youth's  refined 
Lsseveration,  that  "Lay  was  a  blamed  handsome  fellow,  in 
jpite  of  his  dark  skin  and  Turkish  beard."     This  was  gener- 
us,  for  Tom  thought  himself  an  Adonis,  and  his  skin  was 
ke  milk  and  roses,  his  hair  fair  and  curly,  his  *'  love  of  a 
louth"  tinct  as  with  carmine ;  his  cleft  chin  innocent  of  whis- 
ers,  or,  sooth  to  say,  any  promise  of  the  same.    At  last,  pa- 
ent  waiting  had  its  reward  in  Robert's  bearing  off  the  prize, 
nd  the  two  neared  Miss  Gardner.     She  advanced  a  step — a 
ueen  could  not  have  done  less — and  held  out  a  hand  that 
as  neither  chill  nor  tremulous,  to  salute  the  wanderer. 
"  We  are  glad  to  see  you  at  home  again,  Mr.  Lay !     You 
ave  taken  all  your  friends  by  surprise.    Had  you  a  pleasant 
oyage  ?" 


292 


And  yet  she  was  standing,  her  hand  in  his,  upon  the  spot 
where  she  had  heard  his  hasty,  passionate  farewell;  where 
he  had  pressed  the  pledge-ring  upon  her  finger !  Involunta 
rily  he  glanced  down.  It  was  not  there  !  In  place  of  the 
plain  gold  circlet  there  sparkled  a  diamond  hoop— his  broth 
er's  gift.  What  else  could  he  have  expected  ?  If  she  no 
ticed  the  look — quick  as  a  flash  of  light — no  one  else  did,  nor 
did  other  ears  detect  the  faintest  shade  of  sarcasm  in  his 
rejoinder. 

"Very  pleasant,  thank  you,  swift  and  smooth — as  time 
seems  to  have  flowed  for  the  old  acquaintances  I  meet  here 
to-day.  I  cannot  realize  that  twice  twelve  months  have 
passed  since  I  left  the  homestead  and  my  boyhood's  com 
panions — since  the  evening  of  our  parting,  Miss  Helen !  By 
the  way,  it  took  place  in  this  identical  room,  did  it  not  ?" 

"  I  believe  it  did !"  as  calmly  courteous  as  himself. 

"  Here  you  shed  the  parting  tear, 
To  cross  the  ocean  foam," 

said  Tom  Shore,  who,  like  his  sister,  was  addicted  to  quo 
tation  from  latter-day  poets,  or,  more  correctly  speaking, 
rhymesters  and  song-writers. 

"  Exactly — with  the  trifling  difference  that  ours  was  dry- 
eyed  mourning,"  answered  Aleck. 

"  You  cannot  take  exception  to  the  concluding  lines  of  the 
verse,"  said  Helen. 

"  'Now,  I'm  once  again  with  those 
"Who  gladly  greet  me  home.' 

Your  '  Home  again'  is  too  obviously  an  occasion  of  unfeigned 
and  general  rejoicing  for  you  to  question  its  heartiness." 

"Thank  you!"  He  bowed  profoundly.  "I  do  you  th 
justice  to  believe  you  sincere  at  all  times,  and  in  all  tha 
you  do !" 

At  this  juncture,  Tom  Shore — albeit  his  constitutional  in 


293 


firmity  was  not  an  overplus  of  modesty — was  seized  by  the 
impression  that  the  part  allotted  to  him  by  existing  circum 
stances,  in  this  particular  locality,  was  that  of  second  fiddle, 
i  and  walked  off  in  quest  of  less  distinguished  company. 
Simultaneously  with  his  withdrawal,  Robert  obeyed  the 
imperious  beck  of  Lily  Calvert's  fairy  forefinger,  and,  to 
Helen's  consternation  and  Aleck's  chagrin,  they  found  them- 
jselves  the  only  occupants  of  the  window  recess. 

Consternation  nor  chagrin  outlived  the  shock  of  the 
'I  disco  very  of  their  situation.  Both  would  have  done  all  in 
their  power,  consistent  with  outward  propriety,  to  avoid 
i  the  tete-a-tete ;  but,  now  that  it  was  forced  upon  them,  each 
experienced  an  interest  in  its  progress  and  results,  pain- 
;ful,  yet  not  devoid  of  a  certain  strange  sweetness.  They 
talked  of  common-place  topics ;  of  neighborhood  changes  and 
'foreign  travel.  The  most  jealous  lover  might  have  heard 
every  word,  noted  and  weighed  the  import  of  every  intona 
tion  and  glance,  and  felt  no  misgivings  as  to  the  standing  of 
[the  colloquists  with  regard  to  one  another.  The  past — as 
^theirs — was  not  referred  to  in  the  most  remote  manner,  yet 
i  it  was  not  practicable  for  Aleck  to  continue  the  cruelly  sig- 
;nificant  badinage  which  was,  to  Robert  and  young  Shore, 
jbut  pleasant  trifling  between  old  friends.  It  seemed  un- 
imanly  and  irreverent — a  thing  of  which  he  was  ashamed,  as 
jhe  looked  at,  and  listened  to  her ;  as  if,  while  they  talked, 
ithe  bier,  holding  the  shrouded  corpse  of  his  boyish  hope  and 
manhood's  aim,  lay  between  them. 

Whether  or  not  the  pride  and  bitterness  passed  away, 
i  likewise,  from  Helen's  spirit,  all  trace  of  either  disappeared 
from  her  demeanor.  She  ceased  to  question  and  reply  with 
•the  elaborate  show  of  strained  civility  that  had  hailed  his 
approach,  and  characterized  her  conversation  while  others 
were  by.  It  was  no  longer  easy  to  meet  his  eyes  with 
steady,  haughty  gaze ;  to  fling  back  retort  for  innuendo ;  to 


294  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

repay  counterfeit  courtesy  with  lofty  indifference.  The  truth 
was  that  neither  had,  in  his  or  her  anticipations  of  the  in 
terview,  taken  into  account  the  subtile  and  sure  effect  of  the 
personal  presence;  the  wondrous  magnetism  of  voice  and 
look  and  action ;  the  indescribable  fascination  lingering  in 
each  and  all  of  these ;  every  one  bringing  up  its  swift  train 
of  memories,  and  each  link  in  the  chain  reuniting,  as  by 
magic,  with  the  rest,  to  draw  their  hearts  once  more 
together.  The  awakening,  and  anguish,  and  shame,  and 
renewed  resolves  for  future  conduct  with  it,  would  come 
by-and-by;  for  the  present,  they  saw  nothing  beyond  the 
tumultuous  joy  of  being  again  with  one  another,  after  the 
dreary  blank  of  absence.  When  dinner  was  announced, 
Aleck  offered  his  arm,  which  was  silently  accepted.  Robert 
walked  before  them,  in  attendance  upon  Lily.  Devoted  in 
appearance  to  his  fair  companion,  he  yet  found  a  favorable 
opportunity  for  throwing  back  a  smile  to  his  brother  and 
Helen.  Its  gleam  of  affectionate  meaning,  its  guileless  trust 
and  hopefulness,  were  not  lost  upon  them.  When  they  took 
their  seats  in  the  dining-room,  Helen's  cheek  had  lost  its 
blush,  and  her  eye  its  softness,  and  beyond  offering  her  the 
ordinary  civilities  of  the  occasion,  Aleck  paid  her  no  atten 
tion  while  they  remained  at  the  board. 

It  was  after  sunset  when  the  gentlemen  rejoined  the 
ladies  in  the  drawing-room.  Robert,  having  seen  that 
Helen  was  not  there,  bethought  himself,  as  was  his  wont, 
of  the  least  admired  or  least  courted  person  of  the  com 
pany;  and  finding  her  in  the  shape  of  a  shy  school-girl, 
ensconced  in  the  nook  between  the  piano  and  wall,  sat 
down  in  front  of  her,  and  tried  to  draw  her  into  conversa 
tion.  The  barrier  of  bashfulness  and  nervous  timidity  was 
being  rapidly  undermined  by  his  sedulous  tact,  when  Gabriel 
wormed  his  way  through  the  talkative  groups,  dispersed 
irregularly  about  the  room,  up  to  the  two  in  the  corner. 


295 


"Was  you  de  lady  what  asked  for  a  glass  of  water, 
ma'am?"  presenting  a  salver,  with  a  goblet  upon  it. 

"  No !"  said  the  girl,  in  surprise. 

"  Beg  a  thousand  pardons,  ma'am  !  sorry  for  de  mistake, 
I'm  sure,  ma'am!" 

He  bowed  himself  backwards — a  bit  of  court  etiquette, 
upon  whose  acquisition  and  practice  he  plumed  himself 
mightily,  and  steered  off  in  another  direction ;  but  not  before 
he  had  adroitly  dropped  into  Robert  Lay's  hand  a  folded  pa 
per.  Although  the  latter  divined  intuitively  and  through  his 
recollection  of  precedents  the  authorship  of  the  wee  note, 
hidden  so  soon  as  it  fell  in  the  hollow  of  his  palm,  and 
burned  with  desire  to  learn  its  purport,  he  retained  his  posi 
tion  some  minutes  longer,  until  he  could  signal  Tom  Shore  to 
come  and  occupy  it.  Tom  was  dandified  and  conceited,  but 
he  was  kind-hearted  withal,  and,  to  gratify  Robert,  would 
have  undergone  ordeals  yet  more  trying,  if  that  were  possi 
ble,  than  expending  his  time  and  fascinations  upon  a  girl 
who  was  neither  pretty,  witty,  nor  rich,  nor  yet  "  know 
ing"  enough  to  appreciate  him  ;  "  smacking,"  as  he  decided, 
"  rather  too  much  of  school  bread  and  butter." 

Robert  read  his  precious  billet  by  the  hall  window.  It 
was,  as  he  had  supposed,  from  Helen,  and  a  simple  request 
that  he  would  meet  her  at  "  the  spring,"  where  she  would 
wait  half  an  hour  for  his  coming.  Hastily  taking  down  his 
overcoat  and  hat  from  the  row  of  pegs  in  the  wainscot,  he 
was  in  the  act  of  putting  them  on,  when  he  heard  through 
the  dining-room  door,  which  was  ajar,  Lily's  voice,  sharp 
with  pettishness,  yet  silvery  still. 

"  Where  did  you  get  the  note  I  saw  you  give  Mr.  Lay, 
just  now  ?" 

"'Twouldn't  be  honorable  in  me  fur  to  tell  what  I'm 
ordered  not  to,  Miss  Lily !"  said  Gabriel,  respectfully  but 
stoutly. 


296 


"  Don't  answer  me  in  that  way,  sir  !" 

It  conflicted  sorely  with  Robert's  feelings  and  sense  of 
justice  to  leave  his  Eboe  ally  exposed  to  the  assaults  of 
womanly  pique  and  curiosity ;  and,  not  waiting  to  hear 
more  of  the  dialogue,  he  stepped  across  the  hall,  making  as 
much  bustle  as  he  conveniently  could,  and  tapped  at  the 
door. 

"  Miss  Lily !"  he  called. 

"  Come  in !"  said  the  clear  tones,  with  a  perceptible 
change  of  key. 

Gabriel  took  advantage  of  the  diversion,  and  vanished, 
like  a  shadow,  through  another  portal.  Lily  started  at 
sight  of  her  guest's  great-coat,  and  the  hat  in  his  hand. 

"  You  are  not  going  yet,  surely !" 

"  Only  for  a  walk  with  Helen."  He  smiled,  and  hesitated 
in  pronouncing  the  name.  "  I  wanted  to  ask  you — our 
dear  little  sister — to  contrive  that  our  absence  should  not 
provoke  the  criticism  of  gossiping  tongues,  if  there  are  any 
such  instruments  of  mischief  among  the  good  people  in  the 
other  room.  I  will  do  the  same  for  you  some  day,  when 
you  are  situated  as  we  now  are !" 

She  made  no  reply,  except  a  nod  of  acquiescence — stood 
looking  down  into  the  fire  with  her  great  sorrowful  eyes, 
so  large  and  mournful — and  there  was  such  an  air  of  deso 
lation  expressed  in  her  fragile  figure  and  pale  face,  that 
Robert  felt  impelled  to  say  some  comforting  or  friendly 
word  before  leaving  her  there  alone. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  we — your  cousin  and  myself — may 
appear  selfish  to  your  apprehension  sometimes,  Lily  ;  but  it 
is  only  your  imagination  that  leads  you  to  believe  that 
there  is  any  real  diminution  of  our  regard  for  you.  You 
must  not  bear  me  a  grudge  because  I  am  happy  in  the 
thought  of  taking  her  away  from  you.  Our  home  will  al 
ways  be  yours  ;  for  she  loves  you  as  fondly  as  ever ;  and, 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  297 

for  myself,  I  can  truly  say  that  you  were  never  dearer  to 
me  than  you  are  now,  while  I  have  in  view  the  blessed 
prospect  of  the  closer  tie  soon  to  be  formed  between  us." 

He  spoke  caressingly,  for  he  had  known  Lily  from  her 
babyhood,  and  petted  her  to  this  day  and  hour,  as  did 
nearly  everybody  else. 

One  of  her  hands — scarcely  larger  and  quite  as  soft  to 

the   touch    as  a  petal   of  her   name-flower — lay  passively 

within  his  fraternal  grasp  ;  his  head  was  bent  towards  her 

|  in  protecting  tenderness,  that  looked  lover-like,  when  the 

i  door  at  the  side  of  the  fire-place  was  pushed  back,  and  in 

walked  Colonel  Floyd ! 

In  confusion  or  alarm,  his  niece  snatched  her  hand  away 
from  Robert,  with  a  faint  "  Oh  !" 

"  I  thought  that  you  were  both  in  the  parlor,"  said  the 
guardian,  his  dark  features  gathering  additional  grimness 
from  his  corrugated  brow. 

Robert's  pleasant  tones  answered  the  reproof  he  knew 
was  aimed  at  Lily. 

"  So  we  were,  three  minutes  ago,  sir  !  I  was  on  my  way 
out  to  take  an  after-dinner  stroll — the  '  constitutional'  one 
is  apt  to  need  after  Mrs.  Floyd's  dinners,  Colonel !  and  hear 
ing  Miss  Lily's  voice,  as  I  passed  that  door,  I  stepped  in  to 
angage  her  kind  offices  in  covering  or  excusing  my  tempo 
rary  absence." 

"  The  precaution  was  needless,  Mr.  Lay  !  It  is  my  wish 
and  request  that  my  friends  should  be  free  to  come  and  go 
'it  pleasure,  in  my  house." 

"  No  one  knows  that  better  than  I  do,  sir.  Still,  my 
withdrawal  from  society,  such  as  is  collected  in  the  parlor, 
juight  subject  me  to  the  charge  of  moroseness,  or  a  want 
rf  gallantry.  I  shall  not  be  gone  long.  The  bracing  air 
will  soon  clear  my  brain  from  the  fumes  of  that  last  glass 
}f  champagne." 
13* 


298 


He  bowed,  with  his  frank,  boyish  laugh,  and  went  out. 

Lily  also  moved,  as  if  to  go  to  the  parlor,  but  her  uncle 
prevented  her. 

"  Lily !" 

"  Sir !" 

"  Is  this  fine  story  true,  or  has  that  smooth-tongued  beau- 
general  been  making  love  to  you  ?  One  girl  at  a  time  is 
enough  for  most  men." 

"  Love  to  me,  sir  !"  Her  eyes  glittered,  as  polished  steel 
does  in  the  sunlight.  "  Do  you,  then,  think  that  I  would 
submit  to  that  insult  ?  for  insult  it  would  be  from  an  en 
gaged  man !" 

"  You  might  do  worse,  girl !  Why  did  you  let  him 
slip  through  your  net  in  the  first  instance  ?  You  angled 
badly." 

"  I  never  had  any  hold  upon  him,  sir.     If  I  had — " 

Colonel  Floyd's  smile  was  one  of  sinister  gratification,  as 
he  studied  her  face  and  translated  the  language  of  the  ges 
ture  that  finished  the  sentence. 

"  If  you  had,  you  are  no  true  Floyd  if  you  allowed  him  to 
stray  with  impunity.  If  you  possessed  your  mother's  spirit 
you  would  not  give  him  up  alive.  I  have  watched  him  and 
her,  too,  and  I  tell  you,  on  the  authority  of  one  who  is  sel 
dom  mistaken  in  his  judgment  of  character  and  feelings, 
that  he  may  still  be  yours,  if  you  care  to  make  the  effort  to 
lure  him  back." 

"  Uncle !  You  forget  that  he  is  to  marry  Helen  next 
month !" 

"  Tut,  child  !  Matches  have  been  broken  off  at  the  altar 
before  now !  You  have  a  stout  will  of  your  own,  and  a 
quick  wit — and  lie  is  worth  having  /" 

She  was  left  alone — the  girl  so  early  and  so  terribly 
orphaned —left  with  the  fiery  Floyd  blood,  of  which  her 
tempter  had  reminded  her,  swelling  and  boiling  in  her 


299 


veins,  and  his  strange,  artful  insinuations  working  in  her 
mind,  revolving  in  the  brain  he  had  truly  described  as  quick 
and  shrewd.  She  had  little  respect  for  her  guardian,  and 
few  loved  him  except  the  wife  he  daily  trampled  in  the 
dust ;  but  Lily  had  confidence  in  his  boasted  acquaintance 
with  men  and  the  world's  ways — his  penetrative  discrimi 
nation  of  action  and  motive.  He  had  evidently  divined  a 
secret  she  had  imagined  was  buried  from  all  mortal  ken,  in 
the  depths  of  her  own  mourning  heart.  Might  it  not  be 
that  he  was  equally  sagacious  in  reading  those  of  the  be 
trothed  pair  ? 

She  roamed  up  and  down  through  the  firelit  room,  her 
hands  chafing  one  another,  and  the  colorless  cheeks  whiter 
still  than  before — if  that  could  be — under  the  strivings  and 
insidious  promptings  of  the  passions  he  had  so  cunningly 
aroused.  She  spoke  once,  with  energy  and  fire  that  seemed 
to  threaten  the  rending  of  the  slight,  shaking  frame.  It  was 
an  appeal  to  Divinity — not  the  cry  of  a  soul  that  felt  the 
danger  of  the  impending  shipwreck  among  the  billows  of 
lawless  affections — "  Save !  or  I  perish  !"  or  the  lowlier 
prayer  of  the  tried,  yet  faithful  heart,  "  Leave  me  not  to 
temptation !"  but  a  sudden,  insane-sounding  ejaculation  : — 

"  '  Worth  having !'     Oh,  Heaven !  do  I  not  know  that 

too  well  already !" 

> 


800  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  THE  spring"  was  between  three  and  four  hundred  yards 
distant  from  the  mansion-house,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on 
which  the  building  was  situated ;  and  beyond  the  arch  of 
rude  masonry  covering  the  fountain  arose  another  eminence, 
thickly  wooded  and  cleft  with  ravines — the  outskirts  of  the 
extensive  forests  attached  to  the  plantation. 

The  night  was  cold,  but  there  was  no  wind  stirring,  and 
far  up  towards  the  zenith  the  moon  rode  in  unclouded  ma 
jesty.  The  frosted  earth  and  brittle  grass  crackled  under 
Robert's  tread  as  he  sought  the  trysting-place.  The  walk 
was  a  familiar  one,  and  a  favorite  with  him ;  doubly  dear 
since  the  scene  of  four  months  agone  that  had  hallowed  the 
rustic  fount  forever.  With  the  gurgling  flow  of  its  waters 
had  been  blent  the  first  vows  of  love  he  had  breathed  in  the 
ear  of  her  who  now  sat  awaiting  him  upon  the  gray  stone 
that  had  been  their  resting-place  then.  She  was  not  alone. 
Withdrawn  to  a  respectful  distance  behind  her  mistress 
stood  a  woman,  whom  Robert  recognized  with  a  kindly 
"How  do  you  do,  Sally?" 

Helen  rose  immediately  and  took  his  proffered  arm.  Until 
he  spoke  she  had  remained  quietly  seated,  her  head  resting 
upon  her  hand,  apparently  buried  in  absorbing  thought. 

"  Have  I  kept  you  waiting  ?"  he  asked.  "  I  was  afraid 
that  I  should.  Gabriel  may  have  met  with  unavoidable  de 
lays  in  delivering  your  note,  fertile  in  ruses  though  he  is, 
nor  could  I  get  away  directly  it  reached  me  without  attract- 
ing  attention." 


301 


"You  came  sooner  than  I  expected.  You  may  have 
thought  my  message  a  singular  one,  but  I  wished  to  talk 
with  you,  and  I  knew  that  we  could  not  procure  the  oppor 
tunity  for  uninterrupted  conversation  anywhere  within  doors 
this  evening." 

"  Not  in  the  'grotto  ?'  "  asked  Robert,  smiling.  "  Do  not 
apologize,  I  entreat  you !  Your  suggestion — it  was  too  mod 
est  to  be  called  a  request,  much  less  an  appointment — was 
highly  proper,  and  eminently  acceptable.  The  most  starched 
prude  in  America  could  not  condemn  it,  especially  as  Sally 
is  in  attendance,"  casting  a  backward  glance  at  the  girl, 
who,  with  her  shawl  wrapped  about  her  head — in  true 
Dinah  fashion — had  seated  herself  in  the  shadow  of  the 
stone  arch. 

Helen  tried  to  imitate  his  mirthful  tone. 

"  You  surely  know  why  I  brought  her  along !" 

"  To  keep  away  the  bugaboos  until  I  should  make  my 
appearance,  I  presume," 

"  To  prevent  molestation  from  bugaboos,  indeed — but  not 
of  the  species  which  children  dread.  Time  was  when  I  was 
careless  of  forms  and  customs,  for  I  had  only  myself  to  con 
sider.  Now,  as  my  good  aunt  will  certify,  I  am  growing 
prudent,  very  like  other  people.  You  and  I  need  no  one  to 
play  propriety,  but  since  others  would  advise  the  attendance 
of  a  duenna — a  somniferous  one  is  better  than  none — I  bow 
to  the  decree.  But  not  to  postpone  the  discussion  of  the 
subject  which  I  wished  to  broach  to  you,  I  have  heard  two 
pieces  of  news  since  dinner  that  have  disquieted  me.  One 
was,  that  your  aunt  intends  leaving  your  house  and  taking 
up  her  abode  at  Maple  Hill.  Is  this  true  ?" 

Robert  fairly  whistled  with  astonishment. 

"  She  does  contemplate  such  a  change,  but  the  matter  is 
yet  in  abeyance ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  proposition  originated 
with  Aleck,  the  thought  never  entered  her  mind  until  last 


302 


night.  It  baffles  me  to  guess  how  the  story  could  have 
reached  you  so  soon.  Why,  the  busiest  tattler  of  whom  we 
have  any  record — the  renowned  little  bird  of  the  air,  could 
hardly  have  borne  the  tidings  in  this  time !" 

"  Mrs.  Catlin  mentioned  it  as  a  settled  thing  to  another 
lady,  and  in  my  hearing.  She  had  it  directly  from  Miss 
Ruth,  she  stated,  having  stopped  at  Greenfield  on  her  way 
to  Belleview.  But,  Robert !  please  dissuade  her  from  this 
step !  It  has  been  a  serious  and  constant  fear  with  me,  that 
I  may  not  contribute  so  much  to  your  happiness  as  you  an 
ticipate,  for  I  know  my  grievous  shortcomings.  Do  not  add 
to  your  disappointment  the  loss  of  your  aunt — your  second 
mother.  Beg  her  from  me  to  stay  with  you !  You  will 
miss  her  more  than  you  dream  of;  you  will  need  her  gentle 
offices,  her  unfailing  consideration  for  your  feelings  and  com 
fort,  her  steady  affection  !  You  cannot  exist  without  these. 
Say  to  her  that  I  am  miserable  in  the  thought  of  causing  any 
change  in  her  household ;  that  I  will  never  interfere  with 
her  plans ;  that  matters  shall  be  conducted  according  to 
her  wishes,  not  mine ;  that  I  will  endeavor  to  accommo 
date  myself  to  her  just  ideas  in  every  thing ;  study  to  be 
dutiful — I  cannot  but  be  affectionate  to  her — if  she  will  con 
tinue  to  live  with  you." 

"  My  precious  girl,  what  an  impulsive  creature  you  are  ! 
You  plead  like  a  frightened  child,  who  fears  to  be  left  alone 
with  me !  Am  I  such  an  ogre  that  Aunt  Ruth  must  not 
abandon  you  to  my  tender  mercies  ?  Before  we  go  any  fur 
ther,  dear  Helen,"  he  continued,  dropping  his  jesting  tone, 
"I  must  say  one  thing.  Whether  Aunt  Ruth  remains  an 
inmate  of  my  house  or  not,  you,  and  not  she,  must  be  its 
mistress,  its  irresponsible  controller.  She  understands  this. 
It  is  no  novel  idea  to  her,  and  she  has  the  good  sense  to 
admit  the  wisdom  of  the  arrangement.  If  she  goes  to  Maple 
Hill,  it  will  not  be  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  taking  what  would 


303 


be  her  proper  place  in  my  family,  in  the  event  of  my  mar 
riage,  but  at  Aleck's  instance  and  earnest  solicitation.  He 
will  be  very  lonely  there  without  her,  he  represents,  and  no 
man  of  my  acquaintance  is  less  fitted  than  he  to  be  happy  in 
a  veritable  bachelor  establishment." 

Helen  brought  out  her  next  sentence  with  an  effort. 

"  But,  in  time,  he  will  have  no  need  of  her  in  the  capacity 
of  housekeeper  or  companion,  if  what  we  have  heard  be 
true." 

"An  important  liff1  Taking  it  for  granted  that  he  means 
to  install  his  Fraulein  as  Mrs.  Lay,  in  the  course  of  a  year  or 
less,  I  question  her  ability  to  undertake  the  charge  of  an 
American  menage.  He  has  not  showed  any  disposition  to 
speak  upon  this  point  since  his  return,  and  I  would  not  force 
his  confidence.  Aleck  is  a  queer  fellow  in  some  respects. 
The  very  depth  and  might  of  his  feelings  seem  to  deprive  him 
of  the  power  to  express  them  fluently.  I  can  divine  them; 
yet,  loving  one  another  as  we  do,  there  are  many  reserves  on 
both  sides.  If  he  marries  a  true,  loving  woman,  who  can 
enter  into  the  peculiarities  of  his  disposition,  she  may  unseal 
the  tide.  I  hope  that  his  Gretchen,  if  she  be  indeed  his,  may 
bring  him  one-half  the  heart  satisfaction,  the  fulness  of  joy, 
that  my  love  has  brought  me." 

There  was  no  "  Amen"  from  the  figure  at  his  side.  They 
were  rambling  along  a  narrow  footpath,  which  wound  about 
the  slope  of  the  wooded  hill,  and  her  regards  were  bent 
upon  the  ground. 

"You  will  speak  to  your  aunt — tell  her  what  my  earnest 
desire  and  petition  is,  however — will  you  not?"  she  said,  ab 
ruptly  recurring  to  the  original  topic. 

"Assuredly,  if  you  still  wish  it !" 

"  I  do !" 

They  stopped  under  a  large  oak  tree,  whose  far-reaching 
branches  cast  fantastic  shadows  upon  the  whitened  turf  of 


304 


the  hill-side.  Helen  withdrew  her  hand  from  Robert's  hold, 
and,  folding  her  arms,  leaned  against  the  giant  trunk  of  the 
forest  monarch,  and  appeared  to  be  lost  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  landscape. 

"  Colonel  Floyd  has  the  finest  site  for  a  house  that  can 
be  found  on  this  side  of  the  Potomac,"  observed  Robert. 
"  It  crowns  that  knoll  grandly." 

"  That  reminds  me  that  I  have  another  matter  on  my 
mind,"  replied  Helen,  arousing  herself.  "I  was  so  fortu 
nate  or  unfortunate,  as  the  event  will  decide,  as  to  overhear, 
awhile  ago,  a  part  of  a  conversation  between  two  ladies,  that 
was  not  intended  for  the  ears  of  any  member  of  Colonel 
Floyd's  family." 

"It  was  delicate  and  kind  in  them  to  introduce  such  mat 
ters  while  partaking  of  his  hospitality!"  was  Robert's  ironical 
interruption. 

"His  extravagance  and  gaming  propensities,"  said  Helen, 
"  were  animadverted  upon  in  one  sentence,  for  I  heard  but 
two.  The  other  imparted  the,  to  me,  unpleasing  intelli 
gence  that  he  was  heavily  in  your  debt,  you  having,  it  was 
said,  lent  him  money  at  several  different  times.  I  trust  this 
is  a  mistake  or  a  fabrication." 

Robert  laughed. 

"  The  meddling  gossip  was  partly  correct,  but  I  am  sorry 
that  you  troubled  yourself  about  her  story.  We  should 
have  no  secrets  from  each  other,  and  I  do  not  see  why  those 
pertaining  to  money  matters  should  be  an  exception  to  this 
rule.  I  have  let  Colonel  Floyd  have  a  small  sum  now  and 
then,  but  not  enough  to  beggar  me,  should  he  never  return 
any  part  of  the  amount." 

"It  was  very  unwise  in  you,"  replied  Helen,  reprovingly. 
"You  should  have  remembered  what  reputation  he  bears 
among  his  creditors.  They  say  that  he  never  pays  debts 
that  honest  men  consider  sacred  and  confidential,  unless 


305 


forced  to  it  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  He  is  thoroughly 
conscious  that  you  will  never  resort  to  this  means  of  recov 
ering  what  you  have  advanced.  Now,  answer  me  frankly ; 
were  his  applications  to  you  for  assistance  out  of  his  difficul 
ties  made  prior  to  our — our — to  the  formation  of  our  present 
relations  ?" 

"  What  terrible  '  relations'  they  must  be,  to  require  that 
tremendous  amount  of  stammering  and  circumlocution  !  I 
have  a  wretched  memory  for  dates !" 

"  I  am  answered !  It  is  as  I  have  suspected !  He  has 
taken  a  base  and  unwarrantable,  a  most  indelicate  advantage 
of  your  attachment  to  his  ward  to  extort  money  from  you ! 
He  is  no  stranger  to  your  generous  and  pliant  temper !  He 
reckoned  shrewdly  upon  his  customer.  It  is  infamous !" 

"  Gently !  gently,  Nelly,  dear  !  Do  not  tilt  too  ferociously 
with  your  windmill  before  daylight  is  let  in  upon  it !  There 
i  was  no  extortion  in  the  affair.  He  was  '  hard  up' — excuse 
the  slang !  I  was  easy  in  purse,  and  felt  it  to  be  a  privi 
lege,  not  a  hardship,  to  help  a  neighbor  in  his  embarrass 
ment." 

"  I  comprehend  fully !  My  opinion  is  unchanged,  Robert ! 
I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you  in  my  turn.  It  is  not  fair  that 
Colonel  Floyd  should  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  this  kind  of 
business." 

"Make  it  a  hundred,  and  consider  them  all  granted!" 

Helen  was  not  to  be  beguiled  out  of  her  earnestness. 

"  Never  lend  Colonel  Floyd  another  dollar !  Learn  to  say 
'No!'" 

"  I  will — to  everybody  excepting  a  little  lady  of  my 
acquaintance,  who  cannot  ask  an  unreasonable  thing !"  re 
joined  he,  in  playful,  yet  tender  gallantry. 

She  went  on,  gravely  as  before. 

"  Furthermore — and  upon  this  I  have  a  right  to  insist, 
since  it  more  nearly  concerns  me — if  he  should  propose  a 


306 

marriage-contract  to  you,  refuse  positively  to  accede  to  its 
provisions — reject  them  utterly!" 

"  Why,  my  beauty !  who  has  been  vexing  your  brain  with 
legal  lore  ?  Don't  you  know  that  every  marriage  is  a  con 
tract — civil  and  religious  ?" 

"  I  know  from  your  tone,  and  evasive  replies,  that  there 
have  been  intimations,  if  nothing  more  definite,  made  to  you 
already,  touching  the  expediency,  the  moral  righteousness, 
of  securing  my  property  to  myself.  I  know  it  as  well  as 
that  upon  my  twenty-first  birth-day,  months  ago,  I  was  enti 
tled  to  the  entire  control  of  all  that  I  am  worth ;  that  Colonel 
Floyd  had  no  further  authority  over  it  or  my  actions ;  yet  I 
have  been  repeatedly  put  oif  with  surly  promises  of  settle 
ment  at  some  future  date,  and  am  treated  more  like  an  im 
becile  minor  than  ever  before, — know  it  as  perfectly  as  that 
I  have  rightly  interpreted  the  drift  of  my  aunt's  frequent  and 
prosy  harangues  to  me,  within  a  couple  of  months — ill-con 
trived  expositions  of  her  husband's  tenets,  respecting  the 
manifold  benefits  arising  from  contracts  of  marriage.  How 
I  despise  the  name  and  the  idea!" 

"Windmills  again?"  interposed  Robert's  gentle  raillery. 

"  Not  so !  I  can  tell  you  the  exact  terms  which  Colonel 
Floyd  has  sketched  to  you — commended  to  your  considera 
tion,  by  appealing  to  your  sense  of  honor  and  justice.  All 
that  I  have  inherited  from  my  father  is  to  be  settled  upon 
myself,  and  my  late  guardian,  an  incorruptible  Spartan,  who 
could  not  be  betrayed  into  the  least  violation  of  my  rights ! 
is  to  be  appointed  my  trustee." 

"You  are  a  witch  !"  exclaimed  the  amazed  listener. 

"  I  am  a  woman  whose  training  has  taught  her  vigilance 
and  distrust !  hard  lessons — and  hardly  learned  by  one  of 
my  age  and  sex.  If  all  men  with  whom  I  have  had  to  deal 
were  like  you,  I  should  not  have  mastered  the  alphabet  as 
yet !  You  may  think  me  unfeminine,  sordid,  calculating,  in 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  307 

thus  obtruding  pecuniary  matters  upon  your  consideration.  I 
suppose  that  most  women  leave  these  arrangements  to  parents, 
guardians,  and  friends.  I  am  an  orphan ;  I  have  no  near  rela 
tions  ;  no  friend,  who  can  aid  me,  excepting  yourself;  I  had 
better  never  have  had  a  guardian.  You  have  invited  and  urged 
my"  confidence,  and  you  see  how  eagerly  I  take  you  at  your 
word !"  She  broke  off  her  rapid,  passionate  speech  to  say,  with 
an  attempt  at  gayety,  "Do  you  feel  as  poor  Tarpeia  did,  when 
she  asked  for  bracelets  and  got  a  shower  of  shields  instead  ?" 

Robert  was  embarrassed.  "  Your  confidence  can  never 
be  burdensome !"  he  answered,  sincerely.  "  But,  Nell, 
darling !  there  was  nothing  preposterous  in  Colonel  Floyd's 
plan  of  settlement.  The  most  affectionate  fathers  propose 
the  like,  continually.  I  rather  glory  in  the  chance  thus  af 
forded  me  of  showing  that  my  love  for  you  is  purely  disin 
terested.  You  will  not  discredit  my  declaration,  that,  until 
your  guardian  made  reference  to  your  fortune,  the  thought 
of  it  had  never  crossed  my  brain  in  connection  with  my  at 
tachment  to  yourself.  Whatever  is  yours,  now,  shall  remain 
your  own.  I  cheerfully  relinquish  all  claim  that  the  law 
Would  give  me  upon  it,  with  one  proviso — all  that  I  possess 
must  be  added  to  it." 

"  I  believe  in  your  sincerity,  but  not  in  the  word  of  any 
other  man  alive.  I  am  gratefully  alive  to  the  generosity, 
which  the  world  would  deem  unsafe  and  romantic.  But, 
Robert !  in  this  one  thing  you  must  let  me  have  my  own 
way.  I  have  reasons,  weighty  and  sufficient,  for  pressing  my 
request.  I  will  have  no  deeds,  no  settlements !  They  will  not 
be  valid  without  my  consent,  and  that  shall  never  be  given !" 

This  was  a  strange  conversation  for  a  moonlight  tryst 
between  lovers,  and  she  was  an  uncommon  type  of  a  be 
trothed  maiden ;  her  every  resolute  lineament  discernible 
by  the  white  moonbeams ;  arms  sternly  crossed,  and  feet 
planted  hard  against  the  gnarled  roots  of  the  oak,  appar- 


308 


ently  as  impassive  and  immovable  to  expostulation  as  the 
tree  itself. 

Some  minutes  of  troubled  reflection  passed  before  either 
spoke  again.  Then  Robert  resumed  the  discourse. 

"  I  cannot  disregard  your  wishes  in  this  matter,  Helen, 
however  they  may  war  with  my  inclination  and  judgment; 
for,  as  you  say,  you  are  the  person  who  will  be  most  nearly 
affected  by  the  disposition  of  your  property.  I  did  tell 
your  guardian  that  I  acquiesced  heartily  in  his  views,  and 
would  shape  my  course  accordingly,  and  he  may  misinter 
pret  my  altered  purpose ;  but  let  that  pass !  So  long  as  you 
and  I  are  agreed,  and  understand  one  another,  what  matter 
the  opinions  of  others  ?" 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  sacrifice  you  make  to  please  me ; 
for,  paradoxical  as  it  would  be  to  many — to  most  vulgar 
minds — the  acceptance  of  wealth  with  your  bride,  in  these 
circumstances,  is  a  sacrifice,  and  no  light  one  to  you.  I 
take  it  upon  myself  to  guarantee  that  Colonel  Floyd  shall 
learn  to  whose  influence  your  change  of  intention  is  at 
tributable — upon  whom  he  is  to  charge  the  frustration  of 
his  holy  design.  What  is  it,  Sally  ?" 

Engrossed  in  their  talk,  the  young  couple  had  not  thought 
of  the  girl — had  not  seen  that  for  some  time  past  her  mo 
tions  had  been  indicative  of  extreme  restlessness.  Her 
crouching  figure  had  become  erect ;  the  shawl  dropped 
from  her  ears  to  her  shoulders  ;  her  head  moved  uneasily 
from  side  to  side,  as  if  she  were  watching  or  listening  in 
tently.  When  Helen  addressed  her,  she  had  arisen  from 
her  seat  by  the  spring,  and  approached  within  a  few  feet  of 
her  mistress  and  her  lover. 

"  I'm  thinking  you'll  be  missed  at  the  house,  Miss  Helen ! 
I'm  sure  I've  heard  Gabriel  calling  me  two  or  three  times — 
and — and — it's  getting  colder,  'seems  to  me." 

Helen  eyed  her  more  attentively. 


309 


"It  is  too  bad  to  have  kept  you  sitting  there  all  this 
while,  my  poor  girl !  We  have  been  walking,  and  have 
not  felt  uncomfortable  ;  but  your  teeth  are  absolutely  chat 
tering  !" 

"  I  reckon  I  must  ha'  been  asleep  !"  rejoined  Sally,  with 
a  foolish,  ashamed  laugh.  "  I  didn't  know  we'd  been  out 
long." 

"  I  think  it  very  likely !"  said  Helen,  smiling,  as  did  Rob 
ert,  in  recollection  of  the  "  somniferous  duenna."  "  Run  on, 
now,  and  get  yourself  in  a  glow.  We  will  follow." 

As  they  were  ascending  the  hill  upon  the  other  side  of 
the  spring-stream,  she  subjoined  an  explanation  of  the  re 
quest  she  had  urged  with  regard  to  her  fortune. 

"  I  was  put  upon  my  guard  against  Colonel  Floyd's 
probable  machinations,  by  a  story  told  me  by  my  cousin, 
Miss  Rogers,  when  she  paid  us  a  visit  in  October.  She 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Lily's  mother,  and  having  taken 
quite  a  fancy  to  my  society,  confided  to  me  certain  incidents 
of  the  family  history,  which  I  had  never  heard  until  then. 
Among  others,  she  mentioned  that  Colonel  Floyd,  as  his 
father's  executor  and  sister's  guardian,  had  her  share  of  the 
estate  secured  to  herself  prior  to  her  marriage  with  Mr. 
Calvert,  and,  as  seemed  natural  and  proper  to  most  people, 
assumed  the  trusteeship  of  the  same.  Either  Mr.  Calvert 
resented  this  as  an  imputation  upon  his  honor,  or  an  impli 
cation  of  his  inability  to  manage  his  wife's  property,  for, 
shortly  after  the  wedding-day,  a  coolness  grew  up  between 
the  brothers-in-law,  which  greatly  distressed  Mrs.  Calvert. 
There  were  serious  threats  made  by  her  husband  of  a  law 
suit  to  recover  that  which,  he  alleged  in  Miss  Rogers's  hear 
ing,  had  been  dishonestly  abstracted  by  Colonel  Floyd  from 
his  sister's  portion ;  proceedings  which  were  suspended  by 
his  own  tragic  death.  It  is  always  best  to  avoid  litigation 
by  having  these  questions  settled  beforehand." 


310  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

"  What  a  business  head  you  have !"  replied  Robert,  much 
amused.  "I  had  not  supposed  that  you  knew  how  many 
cents  make  a  dollar.  Very  few  of  the  Floyds  are  endowed 
with  arithmetical  talents.  Your  uncle,  for  example,  is  ut 
terly  ignorant  of  the  value  of  the  prime  idol  of  the  Yankee 
nation." 

"  He  understands  the  rule  of  subtraction,  as  your  pockets 
can  attest.  You  are  mistaken  as  to  his  regard  for  money. 
He  is  an  odd  compound  of  extravagance  and  covetousness." 

At  the  yard-gate  she  stopped. 

"  Do  not  judge  me  harshly  for  to-night's  talk  !"  she  said, 
almost  sadly.  "  I  suppose  that  I  must  appear  to  you  wofully 
common-place  and  practical ;  censorious  in  judgment  and 
rigorous  in  action,  for  you  are  charitable  and  lenient  to  a 
proverb.  But  I  have  only  your  good  at  heart ;  desire  to  do 
that  which  will  be  best  for  us  both.  I  do  endeavor  con 
scientiously  to  study  your  interests,  Robert !" 

He  made  some  comforting  response,  and  there  the  subject 
rested. 

He  was  not,  however,  so  blindly  in  love,  that  the  sub 
stance,  no  less  than  the  tone  of  this  last  sentence,  did  not  fall 
gratingly  upon  his  sensitive  ear.  It  was,  of  course,  pleasant, 
or  ought  to  have  been,  to  know  that  she  looked  upon  their 
interests  as  identical;  to  see  that  her  manner  of  speaking  of 
these  was  characterized  by  the  clear-sighted  zeal  and  pru 
dence  of  the  wife,  rather  than  the  bewitching  hesitancy  of 
the  blushing  bride.  Yet,  in  his  heart,  he  felt  a  lack  of  some 
thing,  a  deficiency  that  was  at  once  indefinable  and  painful. 
Her  bearing  was  not  too  free — that  could  never  happen — 
still,  a  trifling  diffidence,  a  dash  of  coyness  would  have  im 
parted  to  it  an  additional  charm.  The  fruit — ripe,  rich,  and 
round — was  his,  and  he  was  proud  and  thankful  in  its  pos 
session  ;  but  he  could  have  wished  that  the  downy  velvet, 
shading  and  softening  its  bloom,  had  not  been  so  carefully 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  311 

and  thoroughly  rubbed  off  before  the  treasure  was  given. 
He  could  not  resist  a  ridiculous  preference  for  the  "  Loves  of 
the  Angels,"  as  a  lover's  text-book,  above  ledger  or  bank-' 
account,  let  them  be  never  so  accurately  balanced,  and  largely 
in  his  favor. 

Above  all,  that  word,  "  conscientiously,"  offended  his 
spiritual  nervous  organization.  Regard  unmeasured,  be 
cause  immeasurable, — Solictiude, — loving  and  anxious-eyed 
Aphrodite,  born  out  of  the  waves  of  this  boundless  love ; — 
these  would  have  been  to  him  as  the  waters  of  the  river  of 
Life  and  the  fruit  that  grows  thereby.  But  he  did  not  want 
to  be  loved  "  conscientiously."  He  did  not  care  to  be  inform 
ed  that  there  was,  on  her  side,  a  "  conscientious  endeavor" 
to  think  of  and  to  do  whatever  would  conduce  to  his  happi 
ness. 

Moreover, — but  this  was  a  secondary  and  very  inferior 
consideration, — he  could  not  divest  himself  of  a  disagreeable 
expectation  of  an  unpleasant,  if  not  a  violent  scene  with  Col 
onel  Floyd,  when  they  came  to  the  question  of  the  final  set 
tlement  ;  feared  lest  the  retraction  of  his  partial  pledge  that 
all  should  be  done  in  consonance  with  the  guardian's  desire, 
would  place  him,  the  bridegroom,  in  a  false  and  humilia 
ting  position. 

Keeping  these  misgivings  and  his  dissatisfaction  to  him 
self,  he  parted  from  Helen  in  the  hall,  with  the  fond,  gentle 
smile  she  alone  of  all  women  ever  had  from  him,  and  repair 
ed  .to  the  drawing-room,  whence  had  proceeded  the  sounds 
of  music  and  laughter  the  outdoor  promenaders  had  heard 
ere  they  reached  the  house. 

A  lady,  elderly,  and  who  had  never  been  pretty,  a  gover 
ness  in  one  of  the  aristocratic  families  there  represented, 
was  at  the  piano,  playing  a  lively  waltz ;  and  six  or  eight 
couples  were  whirling  around  the  room,  in  the  exultant  swing 
of  that  entrancing  dance.  Making  a  wide  circuit  to  avoid 


312 


collisions,  Robert  succeeded  in  stationing  himself  by  the  side 
of  the  musician.  The  piece  she  was  playing  was  an  unfa 
miliar  one  to  her,  and,  dexterous  and  true  as  were  her  fingers, 
she  dared  not  remove  her  eyes  from  the  sheet.  There  was 
no  need  for  her  to  see  his  features  to  assure  herself  who 
turned  the  leaves  with  a  volte  subite  movement,  bespeaking 
an  intelligent  eye  and  a  hand  trained  to  the  like  gallant  offices. 
She  knew  who  had  won  for  himself  the  appellation  of  "  the 
wall-flowers'  friend,"  and  shunned  not  to  maintain  his  right 
to  the  title  by  rendering  attentions  as  graceful  and  assiduous 
to  the  neglected  children  of  beauty  and  fortune,  as  to  the 
most  pampered  darlings  of  both.  Poor  Miss  Carter's  lank, 
starched  figure  and  dyed  silk  dress  covered  a  heart  slightly 
indurated  and  withered  by  twenty  years'  thankless  drudgery 
in  her  present  profession;  but  there  were  hidden  away 
there,  in  shady,  jealously-screened  recesses,  kept  green  by 
the  dews  and  occasional  freshets  of  sentiment  and  memo 
ry,  stray  blossoms  and  modest  mosses  of  romance  and 
feeling,  whose  existence  would  have  been  scoffed  at  by  the 
patrons  and  acquaintances  of  the  "  old  maid  teacher."  And 
never  did  these  bits  of  verdure  and  bloom  quiver  with  more 
vitality  than  beneath  the  sunshine  of  Robert  Lay's  smile. 
She  was  not  in  love  with  him ;  she  never  deluded  herself 
with  the  chimera  that  a  single  thought  of  her  visited  him 
when  she  was  out  of  his  sight ;  but  in  her  mental,  or 
rather  heart  portrait-gallery — how  scantily  furnished,  it 
would  have  given  you  a  heart-ache  to  see ! — he  was  en 
shrined — a  stainless  hero. 

He  offered  her  a  glass  of  water  when  the  tiresome  round 
of  variations  was  at  an  end,  and  advised  that  she  should 
rest  her  strained  fingers  for  a  time.  But  no !  the  dancers 
were  ready  to  begin  again,  and  so  must  she  be  also,  or  give 
offence.  Automatons  and  ill-paid  governesses  are  not  ex 
pected  to  complain  of  fafrgue  in  the  service  of  their  masters. 


313 


"  At  least,  play  something  that  you  know,"  said  Robert. 
"That  will  be  less  exhausting  to  the  head — only  finger- 
work!  You  can  talk  then !" 

With  himself,  he  meant,  for  every  other  available  mascu 
line  specimen  of  humanity  had  a  partner.  He  hardly 
merited  all  the  credit  for  self-denial  she  inwardly  heaped 
upon  him,  as  his  pleasant  sayings  enlivened  the  monotony 
of  her  occupation,  for  it  cost  him  little  trouble  to  keep 
aloof  from  the  dancers,  so  long  as  Helen  did  not  appear. 
He  did  not  witness  her  entrance.  The  first  intimation  he 
had  of  her  presence  was  the  sight  of  her  at  Miss  Carter's 
back,  when  this  set  of  waltzes  was  likewise  concluded. 

"  You  should  not  have  been  appointed  to  this  work  to 
night,  Miss  Carter  !"  she  said.  "You  are  not  well  enough. 
Does  your  head  ache  very  badly  now  ?" 

"  Thank  you  !  it  is  about  the  same." 

With  a  gesture  and  three  words,  Helen  swept  her  from 
the  piano-stool  and  established  herself  upon  it ;  shook  her 
head  in  smiling  wilfulness  in  response  to  the  grateful  lady's 
remonstrances,  and  drowned  their  continuation  in  a  pealing 
march.  Robert  conducted  Miss  Carter  to  an  easy-chair ; 
found  a  fan  and  a  bottle  of  sal-volatile  for  her,  and  went 
back  to  the  instrument. 

The  pale,  weary  governess  watched  the  pair  with  deep 
and  affectionate  interest.  They  were  so  young  and  noble  ; 
so  admirably  adapted  each  to  the  other,  in  virtues,  manner, 
and  disposition,  and  their  mutual  attachment  so  beautiful  to 
behold,  it  was  not  marvellous  that  the  romance  into  which 
she  wove  their  united  lives  had  not,  in  its  bright  texture, 
one  sable  thread.  If  the  sigh  which  heaved  her  bosom  was 
an  inaudible  and  hopeless  lament  over  her  barren  life  and 
departed  youth,  it  was  untainted  by  envy  of  their  different 
and  more  blessed  lot.  Presently  Helen  glanced  up  at  her 
betrothed,  and  said  something,  briefly  and  positively.  He 
14 


314: 


made  reply,  seemingly,  by  an  interrogation,  and  upon  receipt 
of  her  answer  turned  away,  and.  joined  himself  to  the  band 
of  revellers.  He  went  directly  up  to  Lily  Calvert,  offered 
his  hand,  which  was  smilingly  accepted,  and  they  took  their 
position  in  a  cotillion  that  was  just  forming. 

The  music  flowed  out  in  a  bolder,  quicker  measure,  and 
light  feet  beat  time  over  the  floor.  Still  the  silent,  un 
noticed  governess  kept  watch  upon  the  now  lonely  per 
former — free  now,  moreover,  to  indulge  at  will  in  the  en 
chanting  maiden  visions  that  attend — brilliant- winged  and 
willing  sprites — upon  the  meditations  of  the  "  young,  loving, 
and  beloved."  Yet  Miss  Carter  saw  the  fine,  mobile 
features  subside  into  pensiveness  ;  then,  fixed  sadness  ;  the 
eye  settle  into  melancholy  steadiness — a  sort  of  introverted 
look  which  told  plainly  enough  that  the  source  of  her  grief 
was  not  far  away,  nor  beyond  herself.  While  the  spectator 
was  taxing  the  meagre  stores  of  her  experimental  knowl 
edge  of  Love's  mysteries  for  a  solution  of  this  enigma, 
Aleck  Lay  drew  near,  deputed  by  his  partner  to  convey 
some  message  to  the  dreaming  pianist.  A  red  tide  rushed 
over  Helen's  face  as  he  spoke  to  her ;  she  started ;  lost 
time,  skill,  and  tune,  her  hands  crashing  heavily  down  upon 
the  keys  ;  and  a  harsh,  loud  discord  from  th.e  thrilling  wires 
brought  the  dance  to  an  untimely  pause. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?"  "  Go  on !"  cried  a  chorus  of 
voices. 

"  It  was  my  fault !"  Aleck's  sonorous  tones  quelled  the 
Babel  of  inquiry.  "  I  interrupted  her  and  did  all  the  mis 
chief.  I  ask  a  million  pardons !"  he  pursued  laughingly,  to 
the  drooping  and  abashed  musician.  "  It  was  thoughtless 
and  awkward  in  me  to  accost  you  so  abruptly,  when  I  might 
have  seen  that  you  were  intent  upon  your  music.  It  shall 
be  a  wholesome  lesson  to  me  for  the  future.  I  was  about  to 
ask  you  to  play  a  little  faster — a  very  little,  if  you  please." 


315 


An  irrepressible  impulse  of  gratitude  made  her  lift  her  eyes 
to  his,  and  he  saw  that  they  were  full  of  tears.  This  might 
be  the  effect  of  nervous  agitation  merely,  but  the  sight  sent 
him  back  to  his  place  with  a  madly  throbbing  heart.  Helen 
struggled  valiantly  with  the  rising  softness,  superinduced 
by  a. passing  vision  of  the  olden  days,  when  he  interposed  to 
ward  off  every  annoyance  from  her ;  met,  with  scathing  re 
tort,  each  sarcastic  or  unfriendly  retort  that  had  her  for  its 
object.  For  the  rest  of  the  evening  they  kept  far  apart, — did 
not  exchange  another  look  or  word.  "  A  wholesome  lesson 
for  the  future!"  They  would  do  well  to  remember  and 
profit  by  the  warning ! 

Helen  refused  to  dance  at  all  that  night ; — she  "  preferred 
to  play  for  the  entertainment  of  the  rest ;"  and  when  she 
would  not  let  him  hover  near  her,  Robert  Lay's  most  fre 
quent  companion  was  Lily  Calvert.  She  was  very  pretty 
and  charming ;  so  winning  in  her  childlike,  confiding  ways ; 
so  kind  and  amiable  with  him,  and  apparently  so  gratified 
by  his  attentions,  that  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  pre 
sented  by  all  these,  and  quite  forgot  his  duty  to  the  wall 
flowers  in  waiting  upon  a  belle.  She  was  really  a  sweet 
girl,  he  reflected,  despite  some  unimportant  foibles ;  and  a 
warm-hearted  friend  of  his,  who  would  make  the  dearest 
little  sister  imaginable,  one  of  these  days,  when  she  and 
Helen  understood  one  another  again. 

Aleck  danced,  flirted,  and  flattered,  with  a  reckless  grace 
no  one  else  could  emulate ;  was  the  life,  as  he  was  the  lion 
of  the  company.  Half  the  girls  in  the  room  went  home  in 
love  with  him ;  two-thirds  of  the  beaux  wished  devoutly 
that  he  had  never  quitted  the  "Faderland"  until  he  was 
ready  to  bring  a  wife  to  the  western  continent  with  him. 

At  twelve  o'clock,  the  last  carriage,  with  its  cortege  of 
gallant  outriders,  left  the  door  of  the  hospitable  abode,  and 
Helen,  wearied  and  dispirited,  sought  her  chamber.  The 


216 


faithful  Sally  was  in  wakeful  attendance,  and,  disobedient  to 
her  mistress's  recommendation,  that  she  should  betake  her 
self  to  bed  without  further  delay,  began,  with  alert  hands, 
the  task  of  disrobing  her.  It  may  have  been  that  fatigue 
and  dissipation  had  rendered  Helen  indolent,  or  that,  in  her 
depressed  state  of  feeling,  the  society  of  this  attached  de 
pendent  was  more  tolerable  than  solitude  and  her  own  mu 
sings  ;  for  she  did  not  repeat  the  order :  submitted  languidly 
to  her  maid's  pleasure. 

"  Miss  Helen !"  she  said,  as  she  kneeled  to  untie  her  slip 
per-string  ;  "  I  hope  you  did  not  think  it  ^mproper  in  me  to 
hurry  you  home  from  the  spring  to-night.  I  deceived  you 
about  the  reason,  then.  I  didn't  like  to  tell  you  there,  for 
fear  you  might  be  frightened,  and  Mars'  Robert  get  angry, 
and  go  to  search  into  the  matter,  and  so  get  you  both  into 
trouble ;  so  I  made  the  excuse  I  did,  to  start  you  up  to  the 
house." 

"What  are  you  talking  about,  Sally?"  asked  Helen, 
somewhat  sharply ;  "  you  have  been  dreaming,  and  are  not 
quite  awake  yet,  I  believe." 

"  I'm  broad  awake,  ma'am,  and  so  I  was  then,  for  all  I 
had  to  pretend  to  be  sleepy  and  cold,  to  hinder  you  from 
mistrusting  the  truth.  And  I  saw  him,  Miss  Helen,  as 
plain  as  I  do  you,  this  minute !  I  wouldn't  move  till  I  was 
sure." 

"  Saw  him !  Saw  whom  ?  Why  do  you  tell  your  story 
in  such  a  queer,  blundering  way?  Go  on !"  urged  her  mis 
tress,  as  the  girl  bent  lower  over  the  foot  resting  upon  her 
knee,  and  tugged  and  picked  at  the  hard  knot  she  had  made 
in  the  string. 

"  The  man  behind  the  tree,  ma'am !  the  big  oak  you  was 
leaning  against." 

"  Nonsense  !  you  mistook  the  shadow  of  the  limbs  for  a 
man !  How  could  any  one  be  there,  and  I  not  hear  him 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  317 

move  or  breathe  ?     How  could  lie  get  there  without  making 
any  noise  ?" 

"  Tree  shadows  don't  move  of  a  still  night,  as  this  one 
did,"  persisted  the  girl.  "  As  to  how  he  got  there,  I  can't 
say,  nor  how  long  he'd  been  standing  close  up  against  the* 
trunk  of  the  tree  when  I  first  noticed  him.  I  didn't  see  him 
until  he  poked  out  his  head — this  way — as  if  to  hear  better 
what  you  two  were  saying." 

"  Pshaw !  why  should  he  care  to  hear  ?  why  stay  there, 
if  he  could  get  away  ?" 

"  That  isn't  for  me  to  say,  ma'am.  I  only  know  that  I 
saw  him,  and  that  he  behaved  just  as  I've  told  you." 

Helen  pondered  for  a  moment  upon  this  strange  tale. 
The  maid  was  unusually  sensible  and  discreet  for  one  in  her 
station,  and  not  superstitious  or  cowardly.  Her  mistress 
did  not  question  that  she  really  believed  all  that  she  had 
said ;  but  the  more  she  thought  of  it,  the  more  unlikely  it 
appeared  that  Robert  and  herself  had  been  dogged  by  so 
bold  an  eavesdropper,  or  that  any  chance  vagrant  of  the 
forest  could  have  remained  for  any  length  of  time  in  the 
position  Sally  had  described,  without  being  discovered. 

"  Could  you  see  who  he  was  ?  or  whether  he  was  white 
or  colored  ?"  she  inquired. 

"  He  kept  well  in  the  shade,  ma'am,  and  I  wasn't  very 
near,  you  know.  Maybe  he  was  a  runaway.  There's  a 
good  many  '  out,'  I  hear,  more  than  common  for  this  season 
of  the  year,"  returned  the  girl,  still  averting  her  face,  and 
putting  away  the  slippers  in  a  drawer. 

"  Perhaps  it  was  Lem  !"  exclaimed  Helen.  " Poor  fellow! 
he  need  not  have  been  afraid  of  us !  We  would  never  have 
betrayed  him." 

This  was  a  field-hand  of  Colonel  Floyd's,  who  had  run 
away  six  weeks  before,  goaded  to  desperation  by  the  brutal 
oppression  of  the  driver,  Booker,  "whose  authority  was  in- 


318  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

variably  supported  by  the  master.  Lem  had  married  Sally's 
sister,  as  Helen  now  considered,  and  the  probabilities  were 
manifestly  in  favor  of  the  supposition  that  he  was  lurking 
about  the  plantation,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  his  wife.  Sally 
was  not  certain  that  she  recognized  him,  yet  that  she  had 
some  misgivings  on  the  subject  was  clear.  She  might  feel 
it  to  be  her  duty  to  put  her  mistress  upon  her  guard  against 
a  repetition  of  the  nocturnal  stroll,  while  she  was  cautious 
not  to  commit  her  brother-in-law.  Acting  upon  this  hypo 
thesis,  which  she  imagined  was  fully  sustained  by  Sally's 
silence  after  Lem  was  named,  Helen  forbore  to  prosecute 
her  inquiries,  and  her  thoughts  strayed  of  themselves  back 
to  the  more  pressing  cares  and  disquietudes  that  weighed 
heavily  upon  her  young  spirit. 

In  ten  minutes  after  the  servant's  story  was  concluded,  her 
auditor  had  forgotten  the  runaway  and  his  woes. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  319 


CHAPTER    V. 

"  A  WHOLESOME  lesson  for  the  future !"  Aleck  Lay  had 
said,  and  he  conned  it  to  such  profit,  that,  during  the  month 
immediately  succeeding  his  arrival  at  home,  he  paid  but  two 
visits  at  Colonel  Floyd's,  and  they  were  made  in  decorous 
compliance  with  special  invitations.  He  spent  most  of  each 
day,  and  often  stayed  over  night,  at  his  plantation  of  Maple 
Hill,  a  fine  old  place,  which  had  come  into  the  family 
through  the  female  line ;  having  been  bequeathed,  at  his 
grandfather's  death,  to  his  mother.  Active  and  judicious 
preparations  were  being  made  there  now,  for  the  reception 
of  his  aunt  and  himself.  "  He  went  to  as  much  pains  and 
expense  in  fitting  it  up,  as  if  he  were  expecting  to  take 
thither  a  beautiful  wife,  and  not  an  old  maid  sobersides  like 
herself,"  Miss  Ruth  affected  to  complain,  while,  inwardly, 
she  was  happy  and  proud  that  he  did  so.  The  paternal 
mansion,  Greenfield,  was  meanwhile  in  a  state  of  disorder 
unparalleled  in  the  previous  annals  of  Miss  Massie's  reign. 
Cleaning,  repairing,  painting,  and  refurnishing  were  ah1 
going  forward  at  once,  under  the  superintendence  of  that 
painstaking  housewife.  Mrs.  Robert  Lay  should  find  every 
apartment  in  every  story,  every  closet  and  stair,  even  the 
"  cuddy-holes"  in  the  garret,  irreproachable,  if  she,  the  in 
defatigable  present  incumbent,  perished  in  the  laudable  at 
tempt  to  attain  this  end.  She  naturally  believed  that 
Robert's  love-making  was  prosecuted  as  diligently,  and  that 
its  results  were  likely  to  prove  as  satisfactory  to  all  con- 


320 


cerned,  as  she  hoped  those  of  her  labors  would  be ;  justly 
considering  the  sentimental — in  metaphysical  jargon,  the 
"  subjective"  branch  of  the  nuptial  arrangements  as  quite  out 
of  her  province. 

Mrs.  Floyd  pursued  a  similar  line  of  thought  and  action, 
as  she  overlooked  seamstresses,  laundresses,  and  chamber 
maids  ;  set  aside  a  goodly  reserve  of  her  finest  sweatmeats, 
and  oldest  pickles  and  liquors ;  bespoke  eggs,  far  and  near, 
to  be  delivered  a  week  before  Christmas  at  Belleview; 
tested  the  golden  rolls  of  butter  packed  away  for  the  "  oc 
casion;"  inspected  her  poultry-yards,  and,  like  the  cele 
brated  William  O'Trimmerty  of  the  nursery  rhyme, 

"  Gathered  her  hens, 
And  put  them  in  pens," 

to  be  fattened  against  the  great  day.  She  had  private  per 
sonal  trials,  in  addition  to  household  cares,  and  the  two 
classes  of  perplexities  thoroughly  engrossed  every  faculty 
of  a  mind  which  was  none  too  capacious  at  its  best  estate. 

Never,  in  the  whole  course  of  her  wedded  life,  had  she 
beheld  her  lord  in  a  worse  humor  than  now  held  complete 
possession  of  him.  His  household  words  were  one  perpet 
ual  growl — not  loud,  but  deep ;  and  their  connubial  confabu 
lations,  which  always  partook  more  of  the  nature  of  mono 
logues  from  him,  than  a  reciprocation  of  ideas  and  feelings, 
were  uniformly  so  stormy  now,  that  she  trembled  in  heart 
and  body  at  the  anticipation  of  them.  When,  with  simple 
and  wifely  guile,  she  tried  to  divert  him  from  his  sombre 
brooding  over  his  grievances,  unknown  as  yet  to  her,  by 
small  domestic  details,  and  deferentially  begged  his  opinion 
upon  the  momentous  topics  of  invitations,  and  the  number 
less  etcetera  pertaining  to  the  grand  wedding, — for  no  Floyd 
was  ever  married  without  a  large  and  magnificent  party, — 
he  swore  at  her,  at  the  guests,  and  the  supper ;  as  Gabriel 


321 


reported  in  the  kitchen,  "  cussed  up-stairs  and  down,  and 
all  'round  the  lot ;"  reserving  his  choicest  imprecations  for 
the  unconscious  bridal  pair,  whom  he  anathematized  as  "  a 
brace  of  the  most  ungrateful  and  unmannerly  villains,  the 
most  barefaced  cheats,  that  ever  conspired  to  effect  a  man's 
ruin !" 

"  But  how,  dear  ?"  mildly  questioned  his  spouse,  after  one 
of  these  philippics.  "  Helen  has  her  fits  of  temper,  I  know, 
but  she  is  much  quieter  than  I  ever  saw  her  before.  Yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that,  even  now,  she  does  get  awfully  stub 
born  about  some  things.  Now,  for  instance,  I've  been  scold 
ing  her  to-day  about  a  senseless  notion  she  has  taken.  You 
know  that  Alexander  Lay  brought  over  for  her  a  superb  set 
of  pearls,  for  a  wedding  present,  and  sent  them  to  her  by 
Robert,  soon  after  he  got  home.  She  has  a  pearl-colored 
satin,  trimmed  with  lace,  among  her  new  things,  her  *  second- 
day's  dress,'  and  anybody,  with  half  an  eye,  can  see  that 
it  was  made  to  go  with  these — " 

"  Confound  your  satin  and  pearls  !  The  twaddle  of  you 
women  is  enough  to  drive  one  to  distraction !"  roared  the 
colonel,  kicking  over  a  stand  that  opposed  him  in  his  heavy 
tramp  about  the  floor. 

"  Yes,  dear !  I  am  sorry !"  Meek  Mrs.  Floyd  let  fall  a 
shivering  tear  upon  her  stitching. 

Her  husband  muttered  a  dozen  or  so  of  hotter  oaths  be 
fore  he  dropped  again  into  his  arm-chair.  When  he  did  sit 
down,  it  was  with  a  force  that  made  the  windows  rattle. 
Then,  picking  up  the  tongs,  he  poked  the  fire  furiously. 

Mrs.  Floyd  mustered  a  faint  heart  of  grace  to  endeavor  to 
repair  her  mistake. 

"  What  I  wanted  to  say  was  this,  my  love  ;  Robert  Lay  al 

ways  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  most  amiable,  obliging  young  man. 

This  is  his  reputation  all  through  the  neighborhood,  and 

has  been  ever  since  he  was  a  boy.     I  supposed  that  he  would 

14* 


322 


do  pretty  much  whatever  you  asked  him  to — he  is  so  ready, 
generally,  to  grant  favors  to  his  friends.  Hasn't  he  behaved 
handsomely  about  the  settlement,  or  whatever  you  call  it  ? 
You  told  me  you  thought  he  would." 

"  So  handsomely  that  he  has  backed  out  of  every  thing  that 
he  promised  to  do,  Mrs.  Floyd !  He  has  lied  like  a  dog, 
madam !  He  is  obliging  enough  to  give  me  to  understand 
that  he  will  grab  every  dollar  of  your  brother's  estate  upon 
the  wedding-day  you  are  preparing  for — if  he  can !  That's 
your  amiable,  popular  saint,  madam  !" 

Another  volley  of  oaths,  accompanied  by  a  shower  of  coals 
upon  the  hearth,  and  sparks  up  the  chimney. 

"  You  don't  say  so  !  After  all  the  advice  I've  tried  to 
impress  upon  Helen,  about  letting  you  manage  her  prop 
erty!  I  should  think  she  might  have  had  some  little 
confidence  in  my  judgment,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
act  differently !  I  declare  I  am  quite  hurt  by  such  disre 
spect  and  ingratitude !" 

"  It's  her  work !  I'll  take  my  oath  of  that — the  brazen 
minx  !  She  can  twist  him  around  her  finger,  if  she  likes." 

"  Well !  well !  well !"  ruminated  the  matron,  and  returned 
to  her  former  plaint ;  "  I  can't  tell  when  I've  been  so  much 
hurt !" 

"  Hurt,  madam  !  You'll  begin  to  know  what  has  hurt  you, 
when  you  are  turned  out  of  house  and  home  ;  your  last  stick 
of  furniture  gone ;  your  very  clothes  sold  from  off"  your  back, 
in  order  that  your  affectionate  niece  may  flaunt  in  her  hus 
band's  mansion  in  her  satin  and  pearls  !" 

"  Good  gracious,  colonel !"  The  lady  twitched  back  her 
skirts  briskly,  to  avoid  the  stream  of  fiery  embers  that 
bounced  from  under  the  forestick  in  her  direction,  at  the 
conclusion  of  this  comforting  prophecy. — "  It  can't  be  so  bad 
as  that,  I'm  sure!" 

"  You  are  sure,  are  you  ?    Much  you  know  about  it !     It 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  323 

is  an  easy  thing  for  a  man  with  an  extravagant  family  like 
mine,  hung  like  a  mill-stone  about  his  neck,  to  hand  over 
some  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property,  and,  may-be, 
a  matter  of  five  thousand  in  ready  money,  upon  a  month's 
notice,  is  it  ?  I  would  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  inform 
me  where  it  is  to  come  from !" 

"  Why,  I  don't  know  any  thing  about  business,  dear." 

"  You  need  not  trouble  yourself  to  tell  me  what  is  self- 
evident,  madam !" 

"  But  I  supposed  that  Helen's  fortune  was  put  away  safe 
somewhere,  against  she  came  of  age — in  the  bank,  or — " 

"  Or  tied  up  in  a  stocking-foot,  or  carried  loose  in  my 
breeches  pocket !"  interrupted  her  husband,  with  an  ugly 
sneer.  "  That  is  as  much  sense  as  you  have  about  any  thing 
outside  of  your  dirty  kitchen !" 

He  got  up,  still  snarling,  put  on  a  shaggy  great-coat,  took 
his  gua  from  a  closet,  and  made  ready  for  his  nightly 
patrol. 

"  And  see  here,  my  lady,  keep  your  tongue  inside  of  your 
teeth  when  you  think  of  what  I  have  been  fool  enough  to 
say  to-night — or  it  may  be  the  worse  for  you !" 

Mrs.  Floyd  gave  a  weak  sniff  of  wounded  sensibility  when 
the  door  banged  to  after  her  lawful  protector  and  loving 
liege ; — then  fell  to  work  upon  a  mental  calculation  of  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  loaves  of  cake,  whose  manufac 
ture  she  was  to  begin  the  following  week. 

One  used  to  ebullitions  of  temper  akin  to  that  she  had 
just  witnessed,  seasoned  by  years  of  endurance  to  the  pelt- 
ings  and  reverberant  peals  of  such  thunder-storms  as  were 
any  hour  liable  to  break  upon  her  head — was  not  apt  to 
remark  or  inquire  into  the  cause  of  lesser  variations  in  the 
family  barometer.  If  Helen  grew  graver  each  day,  and 
was  often  moodily  taciturn  for  hours  together ;  if  Lily  were 
fretful,  restless,  and  capriciously  gay  by  turns,  without  any 


324: 


COLONEL   FLOYD  S    WARDS. 


visible  reason  for  these  humors — the  good  aunt  winked  at 
these  fluctuations  of  temper  and  spirits,  and,  when  winking 
did  not  suffice  to  shut  out  the  unseemly  exhibitions,  closed 
fast  eyes  and  ears,  and  minded  her  own  business.  She  was 
not,  therefore,  the  person  who  could  have  been  expected  to 
discern  other  signs  of  the  times — such  as  affected  her  ease 
and  comfort  less  than  the  behavior  of  her  husband  and 
adopted  daughters  towards  her  personally.  She  never  be 
thought  herself  that  Robert  Lay's  handsome,  sunshiny  face 
was  at  times  worn  and  haggard,  and  his  manner  oddly 
distrait /  that,  while  he  never  failed  to  follow  Helen's  every 
movement  with  his  eyes,  and  sought  out  occasions  of 
divining  her  wishes  and  forestalling  their  expression  by  im 
mediately  gratifying  them,  he  as  frequently  had  long,  con 
fidential  talks  with  Lily  as  with  her,  and  treated  the 
younger  cousin  with  a  warmth  of  familiarity  he  had  not 
manifested  formerly. 

NOT  did  Helen's  quicker  vision  appear  to  discover  this 
change  in  her  lover's  bearing,  or  imagine  that  there  was  peril 
in  his  increasing  intimacy  with  Lily.  Whether  she  had 
other  food  for  thought,  so  much  more  important  in  her  esti 
mation,  or  was  incapacitated  from  feeling  jealousy,  through 
perfection  of  confidence,  or,  what  was  surely  very  unlikely,  a 
calm  indifference,  was  not  to  be  learned  from  her  demeanor. 
Certain  it  was  that  she  pursued  the  avocations  so  replete 
with  stirring  interest  to  most  women  with  a  mechani( 
fidelity,  a  diligent  drudgery,  that  looked  more  like  a  consci 
entious  performance  of  allotted  duty  than  desire  ;  more  like 
an  abstraction  of  ideas  and  absence  of  feeling  than  loving 
zeal.  Occasionally  she  aroused  her  torpid  conscience  to  the 
examination  of  the  contrariety  of  emotions  that  alternately 
depressed  and  agitated  her,  questioned  herself  sharply,  and 
censured  unsparingly.  It  might  be  an  indication  of  a  noble 
trust  in  Robert's  truth  and  affection  that  she  did  not  object 


COLONEL   FLOYD  S   WAEDS. 


325 


to  see  him  sit,  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  beside  Lily's  piano,  or 
promenade  with  her  on  the  lawn  for  the  same  period,  both 
talking  earnestly  and  continuously,  as  friends  whose  interest 
in  one  absorbing  theme  is  a  bond  of  union  between  their 
hearts.  But  did  she  sin  when  she  wondered  what  was  the 
source  of  the  relief  she  experienced  in  the  discovery  that, 
while  his  kindness  to  herself  remained  unabated,  he  was  yet 
less  demonstrative ;  made  fewer  demands  upon  her  time  and 
love  than  of  yore ;  let  her  alone  when  she  was  inclined  to  in 
dulge  in  pensive  revery,  instead  of  trying  by  cheerful  arts 
and  tenderwiles  to  dispel  the  cloud  ?  She  had  outlived  her 
age  of  romance,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  saying,  and  perhaps 
it  was  better  that  he  should  also  learn  to  look  at  Life's  pro 
saic  side  ; — to  view  feelings,  as  well  as  facts,  as  they  were, 
without  the  dangerous  and  deceptive  glamour  cast  about 
them  by  a  loving  idolatry.  They  would  be  happier  for  the 
disillusion  when  their  lots  were  united. 

She  did  not  palliate  the  folly  and  crime  of  the  unutterable 
sadness  that  would,  combat  it  as  she  might,  steal  over  her 
in  the  contemplation  of  this  prospect.  Was  she  not  going, 
of  her  free  will,  to  marry  a  man  who  had  loved  her  from 
her  childhood  in  spite  of  her  faults,  her  many  frailties  and 
foibles  of  disposition  and  errors  of  conduct  ?  who  loved  her 
purely  and  wholly,  as  few  other  women  were  ever  esteemed  ? 
Was  he  not  the  non-such  of  his  sex,  in  his  spotless  life,  his 
engaging  deportment,  perfect  temper,  and  singleness  of  pur 
pose  ?  She  was  a  fortunate,  a  happy  woman,  and,  if  un 
grateful  as  fortunate,  unreasonable  as  happy,  she  might 
blame  herself  and  no  one  else.  What  if  she  had,  in  child 
ish  folly,  once  hearkened  and  thrilled  to  another's  vows,  as 
she  had  never  done  to  Robert's  manly  fervor  of  protesta 
tion  ?  What  if,  for  many  months,  she  had  nursed  a  beau 
tiful  shadow  of  bliss,  in  the  belief  that  this  other  was  hers 
— hers  only  and  forever — as  she  was  keeping  herself  for 


326 


him  ?  That  was  a  weary,  weary  time  ago  !  It  seemed  as 
if  years  of  wretchedness  had  gone  over  her  head  since  the 
summer  evening — but  one  month  prior  to  her  betrothal — 
when  she  had  heaved,  torn  with  desperate  strength,  the 
great  stone  by  the  spring  away  from  its  bed,  and  buried  in 
the  moist  black  mould  the  ring  she  had  worn,  in  credulous 
faith,  for  a  year  and  a  half — worn  hopefully,  joyously, 
proudly !  then  rolled  back  the  rock  to  its  place — a  tomb 
that  hid  a  grave ! 

These  trifles  belonged  to  the  girl's  history;  as  a  girl  she 
had  judged  falsely  of  their  nature,  and  consequently  over 
rated  their  value.  She  had  grown  into  a  woman  now,  ra 
tional,  strong,  resolute  !  Was  she  resentful  and  despairing 
as  well  ?  It  might  be,  for  she  had  no  memory  of  a  mother's 
gentle  rectitude  of  conscience  and  action ;  a  father's  wise  coun 
sels.  A  wild,  undisciplined  childhood  had  not  laid  the  kind 
of  foundation  from  which  would  spring,  in  spontaneous 
growth,  moderation  of  judgment  and  dispassionate  conduct 
at  the  age  of  maturity.  She  knew  her  temperament,  and 
what  were  her  besetting  sins ;  and  she  firmly  believed  that 
Robert  Lay,  of  all  others,  was  best  acquainted  with  these, 
and  that  his  influence  would  exert  the  most  salutary  effect 
in  restraining  whatever  was  objectionable  and  fostering  the 
few  germs  of  good.  He  had  said  that  she  only  had  the 
power  of  making  him  happy ;  that  Life  would  be  bare  and 
joyless  if  he  were  deprived  of  the  hope  of  winning  her;  and 
with  tender  sympathy,  born  more  of  her  own  intense  sufier- 
ing,  her  aching,  bleeding  heart,  than  out  of  the  sisterly  re 
gard  she  had  ever  felt  for  him,  she  listened,  and  promised  to 
be  his  wife. 

"  There's  many  a  heart  caught  in  the  rebound !"  says  a 
time-honored  maxim  we  see  daily  exemplified  in  the  drama 
of  Life.  With  regard  to  the  quality  and  volume  of  this  re 
flex  tide  of  affection  the  oracle  is  mute. 


327 


I  heard  once  of  a  simple,  true-hearted  girl,  a  novice  in  the 
world  and  its  ways,  who  was  cruelly  deserted  by  the  man 
she  had  loved  and  trusted  for  years.  She  "  bore  it  wonder 
fully,"  said  curious  lookers-on.  Some  went  so  far  as  to  ex 
press  a  doubt  whether  her  attachment  had  ever  been  so 
strong  as  was  generally  supposed.  Cheerfully  and  quietly 
— none  guessed  how  heroically — she  went  through  her  round 
of  duties ;  neither  in  her  home,  nor  in  society,  ever  yielding, 
for  an  instant,  to  visible  depression  of  spirits.  Two  or 
three  years  had  elapsed  since  the  event  that  had  changed  the 
whole  tenor  of  her  inner  life ;  the  recreant  lover  had  wedded 
another,  and  it  was  considered  that  she  had,  in  common 
phrase,  "  quite  gotten  over  her  trouble,"  when  she  was  ad 
dressed  by  another  suitor,  a  noble  fellow,  who  could  appre 
ciate  aright  her  rare  excellence,  and  was,  in  himself,  entirely 
worthy  of  her  love  and  respect.  She  was  greatly  moved  as 
the  tale  proceeded,  and,  when  he  paused  for  her  answer,  hid 
her  face  and  wept  abundantly.  Encouraged  by  this  evi 
dence  of  softness,  the  wooer  pressed  his  suit  yet  more 
warmly. 

"  Please  do  not,"  she  sobbed,  putting  both  her  hands  into 
bis,  and  looking  up  at  him  with  an  expression  of  grieving 
pity.  "  Do  not  go  on,  or  I  shall  promise  that  which  will 
render  us  both  miserable  for  life.  I  know  how  hard  it  is 
to  endure  the  pain  of  wounded  affection.  Do  not  make  me 
too  sorry  for  you  !" 

Had  the  nature  of  Helen's  former  relations  to  Aleck  Lay 
been  such  as  could  be  avowed,  and  Robert  not  his  brother, 
she  would  have  made  a  like  answer  to  his  confession  of  love. 

It  wanted  just  three  weeks  to  the  wedding-night,  and  the 
brothers  had  accompanied  the  Floyds  home  from  morning 
service  in  the  church,  to  partake  of  their  Sunday  dinner. 
Aleck  had  joined  the  party  sadly  against  his  will ;  but  Lily 
had  seconded  her  aunt's  invitation  so  pressingly,  declaring 


328  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

that  she  believed  he  had  some  secret  and  cogent  reason  for 
his  dislike  of  Belleview  or  its  inmates ;  that  the  whole  county 
had  observed  his  neglect  of  his  old  friends,  and  that  divers 
queer  rumors  were  in  circulation  explanatory  of  his  behavior 
— that  he  complied,  to  avoid  discussion  and  check  scandal. 
Lily  had  a  meaning  accent  and  look,  moreover,  while  she 
delivered  this  lively  tirade,  that  piqued  and  puzzled  him. 
Had  such  a  thing  been  possible,  he  would  have  felt  assured 
that  she  was  no  stranger  to  the  true  cause  of  his  consistent 
avoidance  of  Helen. 

He  was  not  an  admirer  or  friend  of  Miss  Calvert.  When 
a  boy,  he  had  mortally  offended  her  by  pronouncing  her  "  a 
whey-faced  witch,"  which  observation,  by  means  of  some 
kind  tongue,  reached  her  ears.  The  feud  was  further  in-  1 
creased  by  his  invariable  championship  of  Helen,  in  the  \ 
petty  quarrels  between  the  girls.  Lily  professed  to  like  him 
at  this  date.  It  had  even  been  slyly  and  gratuitously  sug-  | 
gested  to  him,  by  disinterested  young  ladies  and  prudent 
mammas,  that  he,  the  elder  and  richer  brother,  was  regarded 
by  the  Floyd  connection  as  a  bon  parti,  and  probable  suitor 
of  the  colonel's  younger  ward,  now  that  the  other  was  "  out 
of  the  market."  This  benevolent  warning  he  received  with 
profound  carelessness,  and  did  not  trouble  himself  to  contro 
vert  the  theory.  It  was  not  fear  of  these  tattlers  that  kept 
him  away  from  the  home  of  the  elfin  beauty.  Yet  it  might 
be  expedient  to  throw  them  yet  farther  off  the  right  scent, 
besides  showing  his  contempt  for  their  impertinent  gossip, 
by  riding  fearlessly  by  Robert's  side,  behind  the  Floyd  car 
riage,  when  it  rolled  away  from  the  church  door  on  this 
bright  day,  and  his  officious  friends  were  looking  on,  in 
rows  and  squads,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  their  respective 
vehicles. 

For  a  wonder,  the  Lays  were  the  only  persons  present  be 
sides  the  family  at  dinner,  and  all  found  the  repast  a  dull 


329 


and  cheerless  ceremony,  although  the  cookery  did  ample 
credit  to  Mrs.  Floyd's  kitchen.  The  poor  lady's  eyes  were 
red  and  watery.  She  had  a  headache  and  catarrh,  she  said ; 
bat  the  initiated  members  of  the  company,  and  this  included 
the  entire  number,  recollecting  that  she  had  returned  from 
church  in  her  usual  spirits  and  bodily  condition,  were  not 
slow  in  assigning  a  more  plausible  reason  for  these  signs  of 
discomfort,  in  viewing  the  knit  brows  and  hearing  the  gruff 
tones  of  her  sovereign  master.  He  carved  savagely,  and 
s  wasted  as  few  decent  words  upon  his  guests  as  he  could, 
i  taking  no  share  whatever  in  the  conversation  that  Lily, 
Robert,  and  Aleck  tried  to  keep  up,  to  cover  his  surliness 
and  Mrs.  Floyd's  tremor.  He  broke  a  goblet,  in  pushing  it 
roughly  against  the  dish  before  him ;  swore  audibly  at  the 
quaking  servants ;  and  finally  ordered  his  second  son  from 
the  table  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  for  spilling  water  on  the  cloth. 
The  colonel  seldom  went  to  church  except  in  summer-time, 
when  he  could  pass  the  hours  of  service  out  of  doors,  under 
:the  trees  shading  the  sacred  edifice,  talking  politics  with 
neighbors  as  graceless  as  himself.  He  had  spent  the  fore 
noon  of  this  Sabbath  in  examining  his  account-books — 
;"  business  papers,"  his  wife  styled  them,  in  a  lame  apology 
she  offered  in  the  drawing-room  for  his  "  being  out  of  sorts ;" 
jhe  having  finished  the  meal  he  had  succeeded  in  spoiling  for 
;every  one  else,  and  stalked  off  up  to  his  chamber  for  his 
Sunday  afternoon  nap. 

"It  always  gives  him  the  blues  to  look  over  these  tire 
some  papers !"  she  sighed,  while  she  tried  to  smile  at  the 
absurdity  of  allowing  such  trifles  to  mar  one's  happiness. 
;'  I  often  wish  there  were  no  money  matters  in  the  world. 
[  don't  pretend  to  understand  them  myself!" 

"  Few  ladies  do !"  said  Aleck.  "  They  are  among  the  ills 
of  life  which  are  confined  almost  exclusively  to  us  unhappy 


330 


Helen  met  Robert's  eye  with  a  forced  smile,  which  was 
returned  by  one  yet  more  mirthless. 

"  Can  he  be  so  unjust,  after  all  my  frankness,  as  to  imagine 
me  mercenary  ?"  she  thought,  indignantly. 

His  uncomfortable  cogitations  were,  in  reality,  dwelling 
upon  the  strong  likelihood  that  the  "  business  papers"  which 
had  stirred  up  the  colonel's  bile  appertained  to  the  records 
of  his  stewardship  over  his  niece's  estate,  and  the  certainty, 
if  this  were  so,  that  there  were  vexatious  trials  of  patience  in 
store  for  himself,  when  he  and  the  guardian  came  to  the 
dreaded  final  settlement. 

The  diversion  was  not  unwelcome  when  Lily  called  him 
into  her  green-house,  to  inspect  a  plant  he  had  sent  her  some 
time  before.  It  was  drooping  and  yellow,  from  some  cause, 
whose  discovery  was  beyond  the  reach  of  her  horticultural 
acumen.  Robert  was  a  zealous  and  accomplished  amateur 
florist,  and  his  decision,  after  a  minute  examination  of  the 
flower,  and  inquiry  into  the  course  she  had  pursued  towards 
it,  was,  that  she  was  killing  it  with  kindness. 

"You  pet  it  too  much;  water  it  too  abundantly;  and 
dress  the  earth  about  the  roots  too  often.  Plants  require 
rest,  like  animals.  This  needs  a  little  wholesome  neglect ;  a 
judicious  letting  alone,  with  plenty  of  sunshine.  That  will 
bring  it  around,  if  it  is  not  too  far  gone." 

Lily  bent  over  the  fading  favorite  in  silence,  until  the 
large  drops  gathered  in  her  eyes,  and  one  fell  upon  the  plant. 

"My  dear  child!"  ejaculated  Robert,  in  surprise,  "I  will 
procure  a  dozen  more  of  the  same  kind  for  you,  if  you  want 
them,  sooner  than  you  should  shed  a  single  tear ;  and  this 
may  revive  yet !" 

"  I  am  not  a  child !"  said  she,  passionately,  "  although 
everybody  sees  fit  to  treat  me  like  one  !  And  it  is  not  the 
flower,  for  the  flower's  sake,  that  I  grieve  over  !  I  was  just 
thinking  how  every  thing  that  I  love  best  is  taken  from  me. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  331 

did  care  for  that  geranium,  because  you  gave  it  to  me, 
id  I  have  always  believed  that  you  were  one  of  the  very, 
ry  few  who  really  liked  me  !" 

She  plucked  a  rose  and  rent  it  apart,  petal  by  petal,  her 
»  pouting  and  trembling;  the  tears  yet  hanging,  like 
>arly  dew,  upon  the  gold  fringe  of  her  eyelids.  She 
oked  perilously  pretty,  Robert  acknowledged,  in  his  con- 
jious  innocence  of  every  thing  except  brotherly  kindness, 
iid  his  great,  tender  heart  yearned  at  the  sight  and  confes- 
bn  of  her  artless  distress.  What  a  guileless  babe  she 
jas !  How  sinless  and  free  her  attachment  for  her  early 
jaymate ! 

I "  And  you  thought  right,  Lily !  There  are  not  many 
iople  whom  I  like  better  than  I  do  you — as  I  have  often 
Id  you." 

"  Only  a  couple  of  dozen  or  so !"  returned  the  beauty, 
^tulantly. 

Robert  was  obliged  to  laugh. 

"  Hardly  a  single  couple,  I  can  assure  you !  You  know 
ho  comes  first  upon  the  list,  and  would  not  dispute  her 
*ht.  Then  there  is  Aleck !  He  is  the  only  brother  I 
!ive  in  the  world." 

"And  Miss  Ruth  is  your  only  aunt;  and  mamma  is 
elen's  father's  only  sister,  so  she  ought  to  come  next; 
id  Mam'  Becky  is  your  only  mammy,  and  Hero  is  your 
;st  horse,  and  Dash  your  best  dog — and  they  all  take  pre- 
dence  of  a  nobody  like  me,  who  has  no  claim  upon  you !" 
« ied  Lily,  snatching  at  another  rose,  and  bringing  it  away, 
Jem  and  all.  "I  don't  thank  you,  or  anybody  else,  for 
seventh,  or  even  a  third  rate  place  in  his  regard.  Thank 
podness  !  if  I  am  insignificant,  I  have  too  much  pride  for 

ja*/M 

I  "Don't  try  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  me,  little  sister!  I 
jive  enough  sources  of  disquiet  without  this  one — disquiet 


332  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

which  your  sweet  sympathy  has  done  much  to  alleviate 
You  wrong  me  by  affecting  to  misunderstand  my  meaning. 
You  know  the  sincerity  of  my  attachment  for  you,  Lily !" 

"  Forgive  me !" 

Her  head  fell  upon  his  arm.  Whether  he  would  hav( 
released  himself  from  this  position,  or  awaited  the  recovery 
of  her  composure,  was  not  to  be  seen. 

"  A  letter  for  you,  Miss  Lily !"  said  Aleck's  voice  behinc 
them.  His  face  was  stern — his  eye  and  accent  penetrating 
"  Your  aunt  was  going  to  bring  it  in  to  you,  and  I  tool 
charge  of  it  to  spare  her  the  trouble." 

He  bowed  and  withdrew,  before  either  of  the  twain, 
whom  his  abrupt  address  had  started,  could  find  breath  01 
words  for  a  reply. 

He  was  not  surprised,  on  returning  to  the  parlor,  to  per 
ceive  that  it  was  deserted.  The  stiff  and  labored  dialogue 
carried  on  by  himself  and  Helen,  after  they  were  lefl 
together  by  the  floral  connoisseurs,  was  so  difficult  an^ 
painful  to  both  the  participants,  that  he  had  seized  upoi 
the  circumstance  of  Mrs.  Floyd's  entrance  with  a  note  foj 
Lily  as  an  opportune  pretext  for  ending  the  miserable  pr^j 
tence.  Helen  understood  his  eager  politeness  to  her  aunlj 
and  contributed  her  share  towards  their  mutual  relief  b] 
leaving  the  coast  clear  before  he  reappeared.  There  was  I 
dark  flush  of  passion  upon  Aleck's  brow  as  he  strode  ovei 
to  the  window,  and  his  mouth  worked  convulsively  undei 
his  heavy  moustache  while  he  remained  there,  looking  oul 
upon  the  wintry  landscape,  blasted  and  sere,  like  his  own 
hopes.  He  was  displeased  with  Robert — more  than  dis 
pleased  with  the  miniature  siren,  whose  enticements  were 
operating  upon  the  senses  of  her  cousin's  affianced  hus 
band. 

"  He  can  love  twenty  women — I  but  one  !  If  she  were 
mine,  I  would  have  shrunk  with  loathing  from  the  touch  of 


333 


;hat  little  serpent !  Instead  of  enduring  her  subtlety  and 
:bnd  twinings  about  me,  would  have  cast  her  from  me  as  a 
lateful  thing  !  How  different  was  the  scene  transpiring  in 
lere  !  Have  I,  then,  more  regard  for  his  rights  and  honor 
:han  he  has  himself?" 

It  was  a  hasty  and  unjust  aspersion  of  his  brother's 
fidelity  and  delicacy  of  affection  for  his  betrothed  ;  but  his 
wrath  glowed  yet  more  hotly  as  he  reviewed,  in  detail,  the 
llustration  of  rigid  self-control,  amounting  to  coldness,  his 
manner  to  Helen  had  afforded ;  his  absolute  reticence  of 
sven  friendly  warmth  towards  the  woman  he  neverthe 
less  adored;  the  extreme  circumspection  he  exercised  over 
3ach  glance  and  word,  lest  Robert's  bride  should  chance  to 
read  in  any  of  these  that  which  it  would  be  dishonorable  in 
him,  who  was  soon  to  be  her  brother,  to  show ;  and  contrasted 
this  line  of  conduct  and  principle  with  Robert's  passive,  if 
not  fond  reception  of  blandishments,  such  as  he  had  inter 
rupted. 

He  was  too  angry  to  look  around  when  Lily's  clear  voice 
iwas  heard  at  the  door  connecting  conservatory  and  parlor. 

"  Helen !  Helen !  Why,  Mr.  Lay,  I  thought  she  was 
entertaining  you  all  this  time  !" 

"  You  were  mistaken,  you  see  !"  he  answered,  curtly. 

"  Don't  you  know  where  she  has  gone  ?" 

"  I  do  not !" 

I    "  Then  I  must  hunt  her  up  !     It  was  very  uncivil  in  her 
to  leave  you  here  all  alone.     I  shall  scold  her  well  for  it !" 
j    Away  she  ran,  singing  in  her  bird-like  tones  as  if  she  had 
never  shed  a  tear  in  her  life.     Robert,  who  had  come  in 
with  her,  silently  took  a  seat  by  the  fire. 

Without  having  the  remotest  conception  of  the  hidden 
reasons  that  exasperated  into  deep  displeasure  Aleck's 
righteous  disapproval  of  the  supposed  flirtation,  the  younger 
brother  yet  felt  that  he  had  placed  himself,  or  been  placed 


334 


by  another,  in  a  false  light  in  his  mentor's  eyes.  Unwilling 
to  make  a  serious  affair  of  an  occurrence  so  trivial,  or  to 
impute  forwardness  and  levity  of  deportment  to  Lily,  he 
was  nearly  as  reluctant  to  sustain  in  his  own  proper  person 
the  weight  of  the  blame  Aleck  ascribed  to  one  or  both  of 
them.  That  he  did  blame  somebody  for  what  he  had  seen, 
Robert  did  not  need  his  present  behavior  to  convince  him. 
He  knew  his  ideas  of  a  lover's  honor — his  delicate  fastidious 
ness  upon  some  points  relative  to  this — scruples  for  which 
none  save  those  who  were  most  intimately  acquainted  with 
him  ever  gave  him  credit.  Gay  rattle  and  reckless  flirt  as 
he  was  generally  esteemed,  his  chivalrous  respect  for  truej 
womanhood  amounted  to  reverence  ;  his  recognition  of  in 
nate  purity  was  instinctive.  Had  he  been  betrothed,  he| 
would  have  expected — not  exacted — a  whole-hearted  de 
votion,  not  of  the  affections  merely,  but  of  the  mind.  If 
he  scorned  to  exercise  the  slightest  espionage  upon  the! 
movements  of  his  fiancee  or  wife,  left  her,  as  free  as  air,  to 
obey  the  bent  of  her  inclinations,  it  would  be  because  he 
believed,  with  a  faith  more  powerful  than  the  convictions 
produced  by  sight,  that  she  was  as  pure  as  the  freshest  air 
ever  breathed  from  Heaven  ;  that  she  was  his — heart,  body, 
and  imagination,  incapable  of  cherishing  a  thought  she 
would  not  impart  to  him ;  and  he  would  have  given  as 
much  as  he  asked.  His  teasing  talk  with  his  aunt  about 
the  fabulous  Gretchen,  and  his  fine  compliments  to  heedless 
butterflies  like  Virginia  Shore,  were  the  veriest  lip-play, 
and  every  one  who  knew  him  understood  the  badinage  and 
flattery.  No  girl  could  accuse  him  of  more  culpable  trifling, 
of  the  most  distant  approach  to  unwarrantable  familiarity 
in  language  or  touch. 

Robert  was  conscious  that  he  was  sinless  in  respect  to 
that  whereof  he  feared  his  brother  held  him  to  be  guilty ; 
yet,  he  said  to  himself,  that  he  wished,  since  Lily's  un- 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  335 

guarded,  because  artless  action,  was  destined  to  have 
another  spectator  besides  himself,  that  it  had  been  Helen, 
and  not  Aleck.  She  would  have  judged  of  the  case  more 
charitably,  approximated  the  truth  more  nearly.  But  some 
thing  must  be  said  to  undeceive  the  real  judge,  and  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost. 

"  Aleck — old  boy !"  He  passed  his  arm  over  his  brother's 
shoulder,  who  stood  like  a  statue  of  ice  under  the  embrace. 
"  Are  you  thinking  hardly  of  me  ? — blaming  me  for  the 
little  scene  you  happened  to  behold  just  now  ?" 

"  You  are  master  of  your  own  conscience  and  actions," 
rejoined  the  other,  freezingly.  "  I  do  not  presume  to  sit  in 
condemnation  upon  either." 

"  I  require  no  stronger  evidence  that  you  have  arraigned 
me  already — condemned  me  unheard,"  Robert  said,  in  a 
hurt  tone.  "  You  should  know  me  better,  Aleck !  If  you 
had  heard  the  rest  of  the  conversation  you  would  be  more 
lenient.  I  wish  you  had !" 

He  waited  for  a  response,  but  none  came. 

"It  was  the  simplest,  most  innocent  of  gallant  farces, 
Al !"  Robert  resumed,  in  a  lighter  tone. 

" '  When  a  pretty  woman  shows  her  rings, 
What  can  a  fellow  do  ?' 

"  That  is  an  analogous  quandary  to  the  one  in  which  you 
saw  me — for  which  you  are  inclined  to  have  me  hanged, 
drawn,  and  quartered." 

"  The  question  is,"  said  Aleck,  turning  to  face  his  brother, 
land  speaking  slowly,  with  no  softening  of  his  severity,  "  the 
question  is,  whether  a  man,  situated  as  you  are,  has  a  right, 
pr  ought  to  have  the  disposition,  to  think  of  the  beauty  of 
any  other  woman  ?" 

"  Pshaw  !"  replied  the  other,  still  determined  to  turn  the 
affair  into  a  jest,  "  that  dogma  belongs  to  a  former  gener- 


336  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

ation ;  the  Grandisonian  race  of  swains  and  shepherdesses ; 
the  age  that  painted  Cupid  blind." 

"  That  is  very  possible.  My  ideas  upon  this  subject  are 
decidedly  antiquated,  I  admit ;  somewhat  deficient,  more 
over,  in  tolerance  of  this  '  dear  passion  for  many'  that  mod 
ern  lovers  find  so  delightful !"  answered  Aleck,  crossing  to 
the  fireplace,  and  throwing  himself  upon  the  sofa. 

Nothing  further  passed  between  them  for  that  time.  I 
Even  Robert's  sweet  temper  was  ruffled  by  the  unmerited 
sneer.     Their  disputes  were  of  such  rare  occurrence  that 
reconciliation  was  an  awkward  undertaking,  if  either  were 
disposed  to  attempt  it. 

"  Excuse  me  for  leaving  you !"  cried  Lily,  floating  into 
the  room — her  airy  motion  could  hardly  be  called  walking 
— "  but  Nelly  and  I  have  been  arranging  a  frolic  for  this 
evening.  Won't  you,  gentlemen,  aid  and  abet  us  ?" 

"  The  better  the  day  the  better  the  deed  ?"  said  Robert, 
playfully  interrogative. 

He  would  not  allow  Aleck's  unjust  imaginings  to  influ 
ence  his  demeanor  to  this  unsophisticated,  warm-hearted 
child. 

"  Yes — but  this  is  really  and  truly  a  Sunday  frolic.  Mr. 
Sheppard,  the  new  circuit-rider,  is  to  preach  to  the  servants 
at  Mr.  Shore's  to-night,  and  Ginnie  has  written  to  say  that 
we  must  all  come.  She  knows  you  came  home  with  us  to 
dinner,  so  she  will  expect  both  of  you,  certainly.  I  dearly 
enjoy  these  colored  meetings — don't  you,  Mr.  Robert  ?" 

"  That  depends  upon  their  hue.  I  have  found  them  very 
blue,  and  a  dingy  indigo  at  that,  sometimes — taking  blue- 
ness  and  dulness  as  synonyms." 

"  Oh !  you  know  what  I  meant !  Why  will  you  be  pro 
voking  ?  Mr.  Lay,  I  wish  you  would  take  him  in  hand, 
and  teach  him  how  to  behave  as  you  do." 

Aleck  did  not  raise  his  eyes  from  his  book.     He  would 


COLONEL    FLOYD  8   WARDS. 


337 


not  be  a  party  to  this  deceitful  trifling.  Lily  gave  him  a 
stare  of  inquiry,  and  returned  to  the  more  complaisant 
Robert. 

"They  say  this  Mr.   Sheppard  is  a  stirring  speaker,  a 
thorough-going  revivalist;   and  the  ride  home  by  moon 
light  will  be  splendid  1" 
15 


338  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SEVEN  o'clock  found  the  quartette  from  Belleview  in  the 
revivalist's  audience,  at  one  end  of  Mr.  Shore's  long  dining- 
hall. 

The  white  population  of  the  neighborhood  was  principally 
made  up  of  Episcopalians,  with  a  slight  sprinkling  of  Roman 
Catholics  ;  but  Mr.  Shore  wedded  for  his  second  wife  a  de 
vout  Methodist,  whose  example  and  precept  had  wrought 
great,  and,  it  was  hoped  by  the  reformer,  radical  changes  in 
the  religious  habits  of  the  slaves  upon  her  own  and  certain 
of  the  surrounding  plantations.  The  clergymen  of  her  de 
nomination,  whose  itinerant  habits  brought  them  within 
range  of  communication  with  her,  were  urgently  invited  to 
visit  at,  and  most  hospitably  entertained  in,  her  house  ;  en-  \ 
couraged  to  establish  meetings  for  public  and  social  worship 
among  the  negroes,  innovations  which  were  not  opposed, 
but  rather  forwarded,  by  her  indulgent,  irreligious  husband. 
The  gathering  on  this  occasion  was  made  up,  for  the  most 
part,  of  colored  people,  a  goodly  assembly  in  number,  seated 
in  close  rows  upon  benches  manufactured  for  such  purposes  by 
Mrs.  Shore's  orders.  The  room  was  narrow  in  proportion 
to  its  length,  and  had  a  fireplace  at  each  end.  Around  the 
upper  one  of  these  were  ranged  chairs,  for  the  accommoda 
tion  of  the  family  and  neighbors.  There  were  about  thirty 
in  all ;  and  while  the  younger  portion  of  the  company  had 
undoubtedly  been  attracted  thither  by  the  consideration  that 
had  moved  Lily's  inclination  to  attend,  namely,  the  love  of 


339 


a  frolic,  let  the  day  be  what  it  might, — they  behaved  with 
due  decorum,  preserved  the  semblance  of  respectful  atten 
tion.  It  would  not  have  been  safe  to  act  otherwise  under 
Mrs.  Shore's  watchful  eyes. 

Mr.  Sheppard  was  suffering  from  hoarseness,  having  al 
ready  delivered  two  sermons  and  conducted  a  class-meeting 
that  day,  besides  riding  twenty  miles  on  horseback.  He 
therefore  the  more  gladly  committed  the  preliminary  and 
closing  exercises  of  singing  and  prayer  to  those  of  the  con 
gregation  who  were  able  and  willing  to  lighten  his  labors  by 
taking  their  part  in  the  same.  Mrs.  Shore  joined  in  the 
familiar  choruses,  endeared  to  her  by  so  many  early  and 
sacred  associations,  and  her  husband,  to  gratify  her,  added 
iiis  assistance,  which  was,  to  say  the  least,  of  doubtful  value, 
since  his  voice  was  cracked,  and  he  knew  neither  tune  nor 
words.  But  the  best  feature  of  this  portion  of  the  service 
fivas  the  grand,  rich  tones  of  the  negroes,  surging  in  thunder 
peals  of  exultation,  or  sweetly  plaintive  in  the  pathetic 
strains  of  penitential  lamentation. 

!  "  Did  you  hear  any  thing  finer  than  that  in  Germany,  in 
fhe  fatherland  of  sacred  music  ?"  whispered  Helen  to  Aleck, 
'svho  sat  a  little  to  her  right,  behind  her. 
|  "  Nothing  that  sounded  so  delightful  to  my  ears !"  was 
;iis  response.  "  It  is  like  the  music  of  Carryl  and  the  mem 
ory  of  departed  joys,  pleasant  and  mournful  to  the  soul." 
|  He  had  leaned  over,  his  hand  resting  upon  the  back  of  her 
hair,  to  hear  and  to  answer  her,  and  in  the  self-forgetfulness 
»f  the  moment,  both  had  looked  and  spoken  naturally,  with 
ihe  cordial  ease  that  had  once  signalized  them  in  their  bear- 
;  lag,  the  one  to  the  other. 

I ;  As  Aleck  resumed  his  former  position,  he  caught  sight  of 
lily's  face ;  saw  that  she  was  on  the  alert  to  hear  what  was 
assing ;  met  a  covert  side  glance,  which  was  quickly  with- 
•rawn;  and  his  blood  boiled  anew.  His  distrust  of  the  girl 


340 


was  becoming  intense  and  irrational,  and  in  exact  ratio  with 
its  increase  was  augmented  his  loving  compassion  for  Helen, 
whom,  he  honestly  believed,  her  cousin  was  endeavoring  to 
supplant  in  her  lover's  regard. 

"  Can  it  be  that  she  sees  nothing  to  excite  her  jealousy  ?" 
he  speculated,  and  while  the  sermon  engrossed  the  attention 
of  the  crowd  at  large,  his  watch  upon  her  was  keen  but  fur 
tive. 

She  sat  quietly ;  a  casual  observer  would  have  supposed 
that  her  thoughts  were,  with  her  external  organs  of  vision, 
fastened  upon  the  speaker ;  but  Aleck  divined,  or  imagined 
that  he  did,  that  this  immobility  of  feature  betokened  any 
thing  but  interest  in  the  orator's  impassioned  appeals  and] 
vivid  descriptions ;  that  she  found  other  and  more  prolific 
material  for  reflection  in  her  own  thoughts.  There  was 
nothing  to  awaken  surprise  in  this  abstraction  in  one  who 
was  to  become  a  bride  in  less  than  one  short  month  from 
that  night ;  but  it  was  remarkable  that  he  did  not  succeed,  inj 
the  course  of  that  hour  of  close  scrutiny,  in  detecting  one 
stolen  look  at  Robert,  who  was  in  full  view,  and  whose  eye! 
repeatedly  wandered  to  her  statuesque  face. 

"  Perhaps  love  has  taught  her  to  practise  concealment,  a 
prudent  vigilance  over  look,  no  less  than  word  and  action !" 
mused  the  spy.  "  Yet  I  should  not  have  expected  it !" 

While  revolving  these  trifles  lighter  than  air  in  his  mind, 
and  more  ill  at  ease  on  account  of  his  restless  meditations 
than  he  was  himself  aware  of,  he  omitted  to  pay  the  re 
quisite  degree  of  attention  to  the  passage  of  other  events ; 
was  so  lost  to  the  consciousness  of  where  he  was,  and  what 
was  the  nature  of  the  services,  that  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  in 
uncontrollable  bewilderment,  when  the  sable  congregation 
fell  simultaneously,  and  not  very  noiselessly,  upon  their 
knees,  at,  the  invitation  to  prayer.  Lily  laughed,  audibly  to 
his  sensitive  ear,  although  she  tried  to  smother  the  cachinna- 


34:1 


tion  with  her  pocket-handkerchief ;  and  Mr.  Alexander  Lay, 
self-contained  man  of  the  world  as  he  was,  sinking  again  to 
his  seat  with  a  tingling  sensation  about  his  bronzed  cheeks, 
mentally  and  fervently  devoted  her  to  the  infernal  gods. 

His  confusion  had  time  to  abate  during  the  prayer.  The 
instrument,  in  his  own  phrase,  "  the  humble  tool,"  selected 
to  convey  the  petitions  of  the  assembly,  was  a  servant  be 
longing  to  Aleck  himself,  one  of  the  field-hands  upon  the 
Maple  Hill  farm,  a  pompous,  pragmatical  Boanerges,  distin 
guished  above  his  fellows  by  his  "  wonderful  gift  of  speech." 
He  gave  this  talent  full  play  now,  beginning  with  constrain 
ed  moderation  and  deliberate  utterance,  and  gradually  wax 
ing  louder  and  warmer,  incited  to  greater  vehemence  by  the 
groans  of  assent  from  his  brethren,  until  the  gusts  of  sound 
escaping  from  his  surcharged  lungs,  presumed  to  represent 
equal  vigor  of  heart,  threatened  to  bring  the  ceiling  down 
upon  his  head  and  those  of  the  audience ;  as  if,  Samson-like, 
he  meant  to  involve  them  with  himself  in  one  common  ruin. 
He  was  "a  mighty  man  in  the  Scriptures,"  said  his  ad 
mirers  ;  and  the  majority  of  those  of  his  own  caste  heard, 
with  a  glow  of  pride  in  their  representative  but  inadequately 
expressed  by  long-drawn  "  Amens,"  and  sepulchral  "  Ahs !" 
his  mention  of  the  preacher  to  whose  exhortations  they  had 
been  called  to  listen  on  that  occasion. 

"  Be  pleased  to  pour  out  Thy  plenteousest  blessin's  'pon 
de  great  and  notable  man  of  de  Lord  who  has  spoken  to  us 
dis  blessed  arternoon,  from  de  rivers  to  de  ends  of  de  earth. 
Strengthen  him  in  his  weakly  body  and  diminished  mind ; 
bless  him  abroad  and  in  his  home,  from  de  rivers  to  de  ends 
of  de  earth.  Grant  him,  in  Thy  mussiful  and  undesarved 
kindness,  a  superabundance  of  souls  as  de  purchase  of  his 
hire.  Make  him  fur  to  grow  up  before  Thee,  and  in 
de  sight  of  all  mankind,  from  de  rivers  to  de  ends  of  de 
earth,  like  a  calf  of  de  stall ;  dat  at  last  he  may  be  worthy 


342 


to  become  meat  for  de  kingdom  of  Heaven.  May  he  soon 
cease  from  bis  labors,  and  den,  his  works — may  dey  follow 
him!" 

There  was  hardly  a  serious  face  in  the  semicircle  of  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  when  this  remarkable  effusion  was 
brought  to  a  peroration  and  final  "  Amen."  Mrs.  Shore, 
scandalized  by  their  irreverence,  yet  derived  some  satisfac 
tion  from  the  spectacle  of  Aleck  Lay's  sombre  visage.  She 
had  heretofore  secretly  accused  him  of  scoffing  at  religious 
subjects,  but  she  recalled  now  the  gratifying  fact  that  she 
had  never  really  heard  any  blasphemous  talk  or  unseemly 
jesting  from  him  ;  only  knew  that  he  was  sarcastic,  and  had 
studied  in  Germany,  where  she  had  been  taught  to  believe 
that  heresy  was  rampant,  and  orthodoxy  unknown.  Who 
could  tell  what  leaven  of  Brother  Sheppard's  discourse 
might  not  be  working  in  his  unsanctih'ed  nature  ?  Infinite 
then  was  her  disappointment  and  speechless  her  horror, 
when,  service  being  over,  as  the  negroes  were  filing  out  of 
the  doors  upon  the  right  and  left  of  the  room,  and  Boaner 
ges  swaggered  past  the  patrician  group,  bowing  graciously, 
his  master  sternly  bade  him,  "  Stop !" 

"  Sar  !"  said  the  amazed  orator. 

"  I  want  to  know  what  you  meant  by  insulting  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  to  his  face?"  said  Aleck,  authoritatively. 

",J/e,  marster?." 

"  Yes,  you !  Do  you  know,  you  rascal,  that  you  have 
not  only  declared  here,  in  the  hearing  of  us  ah1,  that  Mr. 
Sheppard's  mind  was  failing,  but  called  him  a  calf— made 
butcher's  meat  of  him,  and  then  prayed  for  his  speedy 
death  ?" 

The  negro  gaped  in  dumb  and  sheepish  astonishment. 

Aleck,  like  many  other  and  better  men,  now  that  he  had 
found  an  object  upon  which  he  might  justly  vent  some  of 
his  pent-up  wrath,  was  disposed  to  deal  more  unmercifully 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  343 

1  with  the  offender  against  sense  and  decorum  than  he  would 
have  felt  in  a  moment  of  less  irritation. 

"  All  that  I  have  to  say  to  you  is  this,  my  fine  fellow,"  he 
pursued.  "  If  I  ever  hear  of  your  making  a  prayer  in  pub 
lic  again,  before  you  have  learned  to  perceive  that  most  of 
what  you  say  is  outrageous  profanity,  I  will  have  you  trans 
ported  to  the  South,  as  sure  as  your  name  is  Petronius. 
While  you  belong  to  me  you  shall  not  be  guilty  of  such 
scandalous  impertinence  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  that  is,  if  I 
can  hinder  it.  You  can  go !" 

"  Really,  Mr.  Lay,"  Mrs.  Shore  recovered  herself  suffi 
ciently  to  say,  when  the  man  had  sought  a  refuge  for  his 
"  diminished"  head  outside  the  door ;  "  you  were  unneces 
sarily  severe  upon  the  poor  fellow.  We  all  understood  what 
it  was  that  he  intended  to  say,  and  he  is  a  person  of  great 
influence  among  our  colored  people,  a  leader  of  a  class-meet 
ing,  and  high  authority  in  all  religious  matters." 

"  So  much  the  more  reason  for  putting  a  stop  to  such 
balderdash,  madam !  I  must  apologize  to  you,  sir,"  address 
ing  himself  courteously  to  Mr.  Sheppard,  "  for  the  seeming 
disrespect  of  his  language  with  regard  to  you.  I  will  see 
that  the  like  does  not  occur  again." 

"  The  poor  ignorant  slave  needs  no  apology  to  be  made 
for  him,"  answered  the  minister's  solemn  tones,  doubly 
hoarse  and  deep  by  reason  of  his  cold.  "  I  would  rather 
hope  that  his  master  will  make  amends  to  him,  for  the  mor 
tification  he  has  sustained  on  account  of  his  desire  to  perform 
his  duty  in  a  becoming  manner." 

"  Our  ideas  of  becomingness  differ,"  said  Aleck,  with 
admirable  temper.  "  I  call  such  vile  and  ridiculous  garbling 
of  Scripture  sacrilege ;  consider  its  effect  pernicious  in  the 
extreme  upon  the  minds  of  his  simple  and  superstitious  fol 
lowers." 

"  It  may  be  made,  nevertheless,  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and 


34:4:  COLONEL    FLOYD'S    WAKDS. 

of  Gideon,  even  in  unpractised  and  weak  hands,  my  young 
friend.  There  is  One,  who  is  not  limited  by  circumstances; 
who  deigns  to  make  use  of  feeble  instruments  in  the  accom 
plishment  of  His  work.  In  this  land  the  use  of  the  Scrip 
tures  and  the  quotation  of  the  same  are  allowable  to  all." 

Aleck  smiled.  "It  is  dangerous  to  meddle  with  edge 
tools !"  he  rejoined,  turning  away  to  end  a  profitless  discus 
sion. 

"  So  the  world  said !"  cried  Lily. 

Tom  and  Virginia  Shore,  like  a  couple  of  giddy  pates, 
burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"  We  must  tell  Mr.  Lay  that  pretty  story  some  day,"  said 
the  latter,  merrily.  "  It  was  too  funny !" 

"  I  have  the  original  document  at  home.  He  shall  see  it, 
this  very  night,  if  he  wishes  to  consult  the  Fates,"  replied 
Lily.  "  It  was  the  strangest  coincidence  I  ever  heard  of, 
and  its  happening  upon  the  day  of  your  return  was  not  the 
least  wonderful  part  of  it." 

"  Don't  look  so  disconcerted,  Nelly,"  said  Virginia,  teas- 
ingly.  "  If  one  portion  of  the  narrative  is  likely  to  be  ful 
filled,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  rest  is  not  a  false  pro 
phecy." 

Aleck  looked  from  one  to  another,  in  real  curiosity  and 
well-assumed  indifference. 

"  You  deal  in  mysteries  !"  he  said. 

"In  nonsense,  I  should  say,  and  very  witless  fun  it  is, 
according  to  my  perception  of  humor,"  returned  Helen. 
"  Lily  !  it  is  time  we  were  gone.  The  carriage  is  ready,  and 
we  ought  not  to  keep  the  horses  standing  in  the  cold." 

"  Wait !"  Lily  was  fumbling  in  her  pocket.  "  This  is  the 
dress  I  wore  that  evening,  and  I  recollect  putting  that  paper 
into  an  envelope,  that  I  might  preserve  it  as  a  curiosity. 
Here  it  is,  I  declare  !  Isn't  that  splendid  ?" 

"  Read  it !  read  it !"  was  the  popular  acclaim. 


345 


"It  is  Sunday,  remember!"  cautioned  Mrs.  Shore. 

"  Lily  !"  said  Helen,  in  distressed  expostulation.  "  This 
is  not  kind." 

"  Why,  what  a  serious  matter  you  would  make  of  it !"  re 
plied  her  cousin.  "  Of  course  we  all  understand  that  it  is  a 
pack  of  foolish  fiction,  from  beginning  to  end.  You  see,  my 
friends,  we  were  playing  c  Consequences,'  and  this  is  what 
was  written  upon  one  of  the  papers.  I  shall  give  it  verbatim 
et  literatim.  You  didn't  suppose  that  I  knew  that  much 
Latin,  did  you  ?  Ahem !  *'  The  witty  and  accomplished 
Miss  Helen  Gardner,' — watch  her,  Mr.  Shore  !  don't  let  her 
snatch  it ! — '  and  the  learned  and  cynical  Mr.  Alexander  Lay, 
met  behind  a  turkey-blind — '  " 

"  Fire !"  rang  out  Aleck's  trumpet  tones  in  her  ear. 
"  Look  behind  you,  Miss  Lily." 

She  gave  a  jump  and  a  scream,  catching  hold  of  her  skirts 
at  the  same  moment. 

"  Mercy  upon  us  !     Where  is  it  ?" 

"  In  the  fireplace !"  returned  Aleck,  provokingly. 
"  Where  else  should  it  be  ?" 

There  was  a  roar  of  laughter,  and  Lily's  pout  was  one  of 
real  chagrin  when  she  discovered  that  the  paper  was  gone. 
Whether  it  had  escaped  from  her  fingers  in  her  fright,  and 
been  drawn  by  the  current  of  heated  air  into  the  mouth  of 
the  chimney,  or  been  abstracted  by  some  clever  trick  of 
legerdemain,  she  could  not  determine,  and  no  one  could  or 
would  tell  her. 

She  shook  her  curls  in  pretty  viciousness  at  Helen  and 
Aleck. 

"  I  will  be  even  with  you  two  conspirators  yet !  see  if  I 
am  not !" 

"  I  do  not  question  your  skill  in  plotting  and  counterplot- 
ing,"  responded  Aleck.     "  If  practice  makes  perfect,  you 
should  be  an  adept  in  cunning  manoeuvre." 
15* 


346 


Belleview  was  about  five  miles  distant  from  Mr.  Shore's, 
and  when  half  the  distance  was  traversed,  our  party  of  four 
had  the  highway  all  to  themselves  ;  the  little  cavalcade  of 
horsemen  and  vehicles  that  had  started  from  the  house  with 
them  having  dropped  off,  a  few  at  a  time,  at  branch  and 
cross-roads  leading  to  their  respective  homes.  The  waning 
moon  arose  while  they  were  still  on  their  way,  casting  long 
shadows  from  hill  and  tre*e  upon  the  light  covering  of  snow 
that  enwrapped  the  untrodden  fields,  showing  the  muddy 
road  like  a  black  serpentine  river,  winding  between  high 
banks  and  extended  lines  of  fences,  and  giving  to  the  land 
scape  an  aspect  of  melancholy  ghostliness.  The  sickly  rays 
broke  fitfully  across  Lily's  face,  white  as  a  phantom's,  with 
unsteady,  gleaming  eyes,  and  Helen's,  nearly  as  unearthly  in 
its  sad  fixedness  of  thought.  It  was  not  a  social  cortege. 
The  girls  leaned,  fatigued  or  out  of  spirits,  against  the  cush 
ions  of  the  back  seat  in  the  carriage,  and  their  cavaliers  rode 
silently  in  the  rear  or  beside  the  vehicle. 

"  What  a  doleful  hour  and  scene !"  complained  Lily,  at 
last.  "  If  one  of  you  gentlemen  does  not  summon  up  gal 
lantry  enough  to  say  something  pretty,  witty,  or  interesting, 
I  shall  expire  with  the  blues.  One  would  think  that  'Brother 
Sheppard'  had  frightened  all  the  fun  out  of  us.  Mr.  Robert ! 
are  you  asleep  ?" 

Thus  challenged,  the  individual  accosted  rode  up  to  the 
window. 

"  N"ot  drowsy,  only  accommodating  myself  to  the  preva 
lent  taste  .for  moonlight  meditation,  ha !" 

They  were  upon  a  bridge  or  causeway  of  primitive  con 
struction,  consisting  of  a  few  rails  laid  upon  trestles,  span 
ning  a  rill  that  crossed  the  road.  One  of  these  slipped,  or 
broke  under  the  foot  of  Robert's  horse,  and  his  leg  went 
through  the  aperture,  up  to  the  knee,  so  violently  and  sud 
denly  as  to  throw  the  rider  quite  over  his  head  upon  the 


347 


half-frozen  ground.  A  shriek  of  anguish  broke  from  Lily, 
so  wild  and  piercing  that  it  chilled  Aleck's  blood,  as  a  mani 
ac's  scream  would  have  done.  Quickly  as  he  alighted,  she 
reached  the  earth  as  soon,  and  when  he  lifted  the  head  of 
the  insensible  man  to  his  knee,  she  was  up  on  the  other 
side,  one  hand  passed  under  Robert's  neck,  while  the  other 
put  back  the  hair  from  his  brow. 

"  Robert !  Robert !  if  you  love  me,  speak  to  me,  my  dar 
ling.  Don't  you  know  me,  your  own  Lily !"  she  called,  in 
her  frenzy. 

"  Is  he  seriously  hurt  ?"  demanded  Helen,  in  accents  that, 
full  of  feeling,  were  yet  calm  in  comparison  with  her  cousin's 
ravings. 

She  assisted  Aleck  to  loosen  his  cravat  and  collar,  and 
chafed  his  temples  and  hands. 

"  He  lives !"  screamed  Lily,  rapturously,  as  a  sigh  flutter 
ed  through  the  pale  lips,  followed  by  a  groan. 

"  Where  am  I  ?"  asked  Robert,  struggling  to  sit  upright, 
holding  his  head  between  his  palms,  as  to  steady  the  giddy 
brain. 

Aleck  checked  Lily's  incoherent  ejaculations  of  joy  and 
explanation. 

"  Be  still,  Miss  Calvert — if  you  please  !  You  have  had 
an  awkward  fall  from  your  horse,  Robert,  and  been  slightly 
stunned.  That  is  all !  Can  you  stand  ?" 

"  Simon !  Simon !"  called  Lily  to  the  coachman,  who  had 
addressed  himself  to  the  work  of  extricating  the  unlucky 
horse,  and  was  now  examining  into  the  nature  of  his  in 
juries,  "  come  help  lift  Mr.  Lay  into  the  carriage  !" 

"Do  not  make  him  more  ridiculous  than  you  have  already 
done,  Miss  Calvert !"  retorted  Aleck,  sharply.  "He  is  not 
a  sick  baby,  or  a  fine  lady,  but  a  man,  in  size  and  age  at 
least !  Well,  Robert !  is  your  head  strong  enough  for  the 
saddle?  You  have  had  many  a  harder  fall  before  now, 


348 


and  hunted  all  day  after  it.     I  trust  you  have  not  degener 
ated." 

Robert's  rallying  senses  were  acute  enough  to  enable 
him  to  comprehend  intonations  as  well  as  words,  and  a 
feeling  of  shame  came  over  him  at  what  sounded  like  un 
feeling  sarcasm. 

"  I  am  quite  well,  entirely  recovered  I"  straightening  him 
self  and  speaking  cheerfully  "  I  never  did  a  more  awkward 
thing  in  my  life  !  You  used  the  right  word  in  speaking  of 
it,  Aleck.  How  is  he,  Simon  ?  not  lamed,  I  hope." 

"  It's  a  blessed  wonder  he  ain't,  sir,  for  his  hoof  was 
rammed  tight  in  de  hole, — but  he  is  all  safe  and  right, 
'parently." 

"  It  is  not  right  for  you  to  exert  yourself  beyond  your 
strength,"  remarked  Helen,  with  the  gentle  kindness  of  a 
sister,  as  the  horse  was  led  up,  and  Robert  laid  his  hand  on 
the  pommel. 

Aleck  softened  on  the  instant. 

"  I  can  easily  lead  your  horse  home,  if  you  think  that  you 
will  suffer  any  inconvenience  from  the  too  violent  exercise 
of  riding.  You  will  certainly  be  more  comfortable  in  the  car 
riage.  A  little  prudence  may  save  you  trouble  hereafter." 

"  Thank  you !"  replied  his  brother,  proudly,  somewhat 
stiffly.  "  As  you  say,  I  am  a  man,  who  has  had  many 
worse  falls  in  the  course  of  my  lifetime.  It  is  cold  for  you 
ladies  to  be  standing  here.  Allow  me  to  see  you  to  the 
carriage.  I  am  more  uneasy  on  your  account  than  my 
own." 

When  they  were  shut  in,  he  mounted,  rejecting  Aleck's 
offer  of  assistance  silently,  as  it  was  tendered,  and  gathering 
up  his' reins,  gave  the  signal  for  starting. 

One  would  hardly  have  anticipated  that  the  sequel  of  an 
adventure,  replete  with  danger  to  one  of  the  actors,  and 
which  had  drawn  largely  upon  the  sympathy  of  the  others, 


. 


349 


would  be  general  distrust  and  acrimony  of  feeling,  or  that 
the  silence  that  resumed  its  reign  over  the  party  would  be 
the  expression  of  grief  in  some,  shame  and  disappointment 
in  others.  Robert's  emotions  were  a  mixture  of  all  these. 
An  expert  in  manly  accomplishments,  famed  for  his  agility 
and  daring,  he  was  mortified  at  his  downfall,  and  grieved, 
no  less  than  ashamed,  at  the  ridiculous  light  in  which  Aleck 
had  set  his  misfortune.  Having  been  partially  insensible 
for  the  first  few  minutes  after  the  accident,  he  had  under 
stood  Lily's  lamentations  very  imperfectly ;  was  doubtful 
whether  he  had  not  dreamed  of  her  distressed  accents  and 
tender  adjuration.  He  was  consequently  greatly  at  a  loss 
what  reason  to  assign  for  Aleck's  cold  contempt.  Helen's 
composure  had  sfruck  him  as  unnatural,  and  piqued  him 
unaccountably.  There  were  limits  even  to  his  loving 
charity. 

*'  If  I  judged  from  the  manner  of  the  two,  I  should  decide 
that  Lily  loved  me  best,"  he  meditated,  in  his  vexation. 
"  Presence  of  mind  in  such  exigencies  may  be  a  very  useful 
virtue, — highly  commendable  and  heroic,  but,  to  my  taste, 
there  are  others  more  lovely." 

Lily  was  in  tears  all  the  rest  of  the  way.  She  had  be 
trayed  her  secret  to  the  last  persons  in  creation  whom  she 
would  have  had  penetrate  it,  Helen  and  Aleck ;  her  impru 
dence  and  lack  of  self-control  had  frustrated  her  cherished 
plans  by  premature  development.  Aleck  would  assuredly 
consider  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  impart  the  discovery  he  had 
made  to  his  brother — unless — unless — she  said,  with  tremb 
ling  hope, — Aleck  himself  reciprocated  the  sentiment  she  fan 
cied  Helen  entertained  for  him.  This  was  but  a  transient  ray 
of  comfort,  for,  upon  examination,  the  supposition  appeared 
chimerical  and  preposterous.  Why,  if  she  nursed  a  prefer 
ence  for  the  absentee,  had  Helen  engaged  herself  to  Robert  ? 
That  she  might,  and  would  have  accepted  him,  or  any  eli- 


350  COLONEL   FLOYD'S    WABDS. 

gible  suitor,  in  a  moment  of  pique  or  despair,  the  little 
schemer  could  readily  have  imagined;  but  what  provocation 
had  there  been  for  either  feeling  ? 

It  was  a  tangled  skein— an  invisible  web,  whose  mazes 
each  of  the  four  felt  knotted  about  him  or  her,  and  still  was 
powerless  to  break.  The  young  men  saw  their  fair  com 
panions  to  their  guardian's  door,  and  bade  them  "good 
night"  upon  the  porch.  Lily  said  nothing  ;  Aleck  only  the 
briefest  and  most  coldly  polite  formula  of  parting ;  Helen's 
voice  was  sweet  and  steady  in  speaking  to  Robert. 

"  Must  you  go  home  ?  Do  you  feel  no  uneasiness  from 
your  fall?" 

"  None  whatever  ;  and  I  cannot  stay — thank  you  !" 

"  Then,  at  least,  come  in  for  a  moment,  and  let  me  get 
you  a  glass  of  wine,  to  prevent  a  return  of  faintness." 

"  You  are  very  kind,  but  there  is  no  danger.  Good 
night  1" 

He  pressed  her  hand,  and  perhaps  Lily's  likewise,  but 
held  neither  longer  than  was  demanded  by  politeness,  and 
the  brothers  returned  together  to  their  horses. 

They  rode  on  for  more  than  a  mile,  side  by  side,  before 
either  spoke. 

"  Is  your  head  at  all  affected  by  the  shock  you  sustained  ? 
Were  you  bruised,  do  you  think?"  then  queried  Aleck, 
kindly. 

"  I  am  unhurt  in  body — I  am  obliged  to  you  !" 

The  last  rejoinder  was  indicative,  Aleck  knew,  of  wound 
ed  feeling — not  temper. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  have  sustained  injury  of  any  kind,' 
he  said.  "  Who  inflicted  it— may  I  ask  ?" 

"  Yourself  more  than  any  one  else.  I  cannot  be  sullen 
with  you,  Aleck.  Your  conduct  towards  me,  this  day,  is 
inexplicable  to  my  mind.  If  you  have  any  just  grounds  of 
complaint  against  me,  speak  it  out,  and  give  me  a  chance  to 


351 


clear  myself.     At  any  rate,  I  request  you,  as  one  gentle 
man  has  the  right  to  ask  of  another,  to  refrain,  in  future, 
from  insulting  me  in  the  presence  of  others — particularly 
when  those  others  are  ladies." 

Here  was  an  opportunity  for  full  confession,  yet  Aleck 
discovered  that  he  was  unable  to  avail  himself  of  it.  So 
much  of  his  overwrought  disapprobation  of  what  he  had 
seen  that  day  had  its  origin  in  feelings  he  could  not  dis 
close,  that  it  was  a  difficult  undertaking  to  make  out  an  in 
dictment  against  the  offenders.  Hampered  by  this  convic 
tion,  his  tone  was  an  unfortunate  contrast  to  Robert's,  and 
jarred  sorely  upon  the  listener's  heart. 

"  We  can  hardly  hope  to  agree  upon  this  topic,  Robert. 
Our  views  respecting  the  expediency,  not  to  say  the  moral 
ity,  of  certain  practices,  are  radically  different,  I  fear.  Not 
that  I  believe  that  you  would  wantonly  indulge  a  dishonor 
able  thought,  much  less  commit  a  dishonorable  deed;  yet 
there  is  a  looseness  of  principle  and  conduct  in  these  matters 
whose  harshest  name  in  the  vocabulary  of  society  is  '  levity,' 
or  '  flirtation,'  that  often  works  consequences  as  disastrous 
as  deliberate  villany." 

"  '  Dishonor'  and  '  villany'  are  words  hard  to  be  borne, 
even  when  the  speaker  is  a  brother.  Please  remember 
that !"  said  Robert,  moving  restlessly  in  the  saddle.  "  In 
Heaven's  name,  man,  say  plainly  what  I  have  done,  and  let 
there  be  an  end  of  innuendoes !  My  patience  is  worn 
threadbare." 

"  I  have  no  objection  to  plainness  of  speech.  Unless  I 
am  greatly  mistaken,  you  have  won  the  love  of  two  women, 
while  you  are  bound  by  every  law  of  honor  and  feeling  to 
ihold  faith  to  one  alone,"  said  Aleck,  bluntly. 

"  I  am  not  responsible  for  your  visionary  conclusions,"  re- 
iturned  the  other,  struggling  with  his  rising  choler.  "  What 
proof  have  you  to  substantiate  this  extraordinary  charge  ?" 


352 


"  The  evidence  of  my  eyes  and  ears  in  the  scene  of  this 
morning,  and  in  the  remarkable  one  of  to-night.  Lily  Cal- 
vert  would  have  thrown  herself  upon  your  bosom  if  I  had 
not  pushed  her  back  by  main  force.  She  called  you  by 
name  in  a  tone  of  passionate  devotion,  such  as  a  beloved 
wife  only  has  the  right  to  employ,  and  entreated  you  to 
speak  to  her — '  to  your  own  Lily — if  you  loved  her  !'  One 
of  two  inferences  is  inevitable.  She  is  either  a  criminally 
fond  and  foolish  woman — false  alike  to  her  cousin  and  every 
instinct  of  feminine  modesty — or  you  have  trifled  with  her 
affections." 

"  I  reject  the  alternatives  you  lay  down  so  arbitrarily ! 
Lily  is  innocent  and  pure-minded.  She  is  not  to  be  judged 
as  you  would  other  girls." 

"  It  seems  not,  indeed !"  interrupted  Aleck. 

"  She  is  not !  She  is  a  simple-hearted,  affectionate  child, 
whose  very  ignorance  of  evil  makes  her  confiding  and  fear 
less.  She  has  been  accustomed  to  petting  and  indulgence 
from  her  infancy,  and  her  sad  history,  her  early  orphanage, 
should  commend  her  to  the  love  of  every  feeling  heart — the 
protection  of  every  true  man." 

"  I  do  not  know  that  she  is  entitled  to  a  more  bountiful 
share  of  these  than  is  her  cousin.  She  has  no  recollection 
of  her  bereavement,  and  Mrs.  Floyd  is  shamelessly  partial 
to  her.  She  has  never  felt  the  need  of  any  other  mother." 

"  We  will  not  introduce  Miss  Gardner's  name  in  this  con 
nection,  if  you  please  !"  said  Robert,  haughtily.  "  If  that 
lady  has  any  cause  of  dissatisfaction  to  allege  against  me,  I 
hold  myself  in  readiness  to  hear  and  answer  it  when  she 
shall  bring  it  forward  in  person.  I  will  have  no  go-between 
in  this  matter !" 

"  You  wrong  her  by  the  insinuation  that  she  would  stoop 
to  employ  a  *  go-between,'  were  her  wrongs  ever  so  great !' 
Aleck  schooled  himself  to  reply  quietly,  but  forcibly 


353 


"  Wrong  her  more  foully  than  you  do  me  by  applying  the 
base  title  to  me !  I  am  neither  her  confidant  nor  champion. 
I  deemed  it  my  duty,  when  you  inquired  the  reason  of  my 
altered  bearing,  to  utter  a  fraternal  warning.  I  have  done 
so  in  sincerity,  with  a  single  desire  for  your  happiness  and 
reputation.  From  this  time  henceforth,  since  you  desire 
it,  let  the  subject  be  untouched  by  either  of  us  in  our  daily 
intercourse.  It  is  devoid  of  charms  to  me,  and,  it  would 
seem,  obnoxious  to  you." 

"  Agreed !"  returned  Robert,  spurring  on  his  horse.  "  I 
am  willing  to  abide  by  the  results  of  my  actions  in  this,  as 
in  every  thing  else !" 

For  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  the  brothers  separated 
that  night  with  a  cold  nod  and  lips  locked  in  stern  dis 
pleasure  ;  lay  down  to  rest  heart-sore  at  thought  of  their 
alienation;  yet  each  smarting  under  a  sense  of  injustice  and 
indignity  received  from  the  other ;  each  stubborn  in  his  own 
opinion,  and  unrepentant  of  his  own  hasty  words  and  ir 
rational  anger. 


354:  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

HELEN  had  her  explanation  scene  with  Robert  also,  as 
he  had  foreseen ;  but  it  was  conducted  in  a  spirit  totally 
diverse  from  the  unsatisfactory  and  intemperate  conver 
sation  he  had  held  with  Aleck. 

.  She  had  had  many  misgivings  since  that  memorable 
Sabbath  night,  she  frankly  avowed  ;  misgivings  excited  by 
Lily's  agitation  and  singular  language. 

"  I  have  doubted  whether,  after  all,  we  had  not  acted  un 
wisely  in  entering  into  this  engagement,  Robert ;  whether 
you  may  not  have  mistaken  your  feelings  for  me,"  she 
said,  raising  a  clear,  searching  eye  to  his. — "  If  this  is 
so — if  this  marriage  will  bring  sorrow  to  Lily  and  yourself, 
I  entreat  you  to  tell  me  the  truth  now,  while  there  is  still 
room  for  retreat.  You  shall  never  be  blamed, — your  char 
acter  suffer  no  tarnish  from  the  annulment  of  our  contract. 
If  you  love  her, — if  you  would  address  her,  were  you  not 
bound  by  your  promise  to  me, — trust  me  with  your  secret, 
and  all  shall  be  as  you  wish.  I  have  feared,  among  other 
things,  that  you  and  I  were  not  so  well  adapted  to  one  ' 
another  as  you  suppose." 

"  I  am  not  worthy  of  you,  Helen,  yet  I  love  you,  yo 
alone  !  The  day  in  which  you  forbid  me  to  hope  for  a  re 
turn  of  that  love,  and  the  gift  of  your  hand,  will  be  to  me 
the  darkest  of  my  life.  I  regard  Lily  as  I  would  you: 
younger  sister,  if  you  had  one,  and  I  honestly  believe  tha 
her  affection  for  me  is  of  a  like  nature.  She  is  addicted  to 


the  use  of  extravagant  expressions,  as  you  know,  and  has  as 
little  command  of  her  feelings  as  the  merest  child.  I  am  her 
elder  brother,  her  counsellor  and  friend.  She  would  shrink 
at  the  mention  of  any  nearer  relation.  So  much  to  exculpate 
her !  As  to  yourself, — " 

He  stopped,  and  a  sad,  wistful  gaze  attested  the  change 
that  had  come  over  his  fervent  spirit. 

Helen  sustained  the  scrutiny  without  faltering  or  blush 
ing. 

"  What  of  me  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Will  you  imitate  my  candor  ?  Is  your  love  for  me  the 
same,  in  quality  and  degree,  that  it  was  when  you  first 
pledged  yourself  to  become  my  wife  ?  I,  too,  have  had  my 
fears  ;  fancies  of  your  growing  coldness ;  imaginations  that 
my  society  was  becoming  irksome  to  you.  Helen !  my  only 
love !  my  almost  bride !  if  you  knew  the  anguish  such 
thoughts  bring  to  a  heart  that  is  bound  up  in  you ;  that 
cannot  live,  except  in  the  sunshine  of  your  smile  and  pres 
ence,  you  would  not  chide  me  for  being  jealous  sometimes." 

"  Jealous !"  Helen's  head  was  uplifted  in  regal  pride. 
"  Of  whom  have  you  the  shadow  of  a  right  to  be  jealous  ? 
What  room  has  my  conduct  afforded  for  the  birth  of  such  a 
passion  on  your  part?" 

"  None  !  I  own  with  shame  that  my  uneasiness  had  no 
foundation  of  that  kind.  Yet  I  find  myself  eying  with 
jealous  apprehension  every  man  that  approaches  you,  my 
wn  brother  not  excepted.  Do  not  despise  me,  Helen !" 

She  withdrew  from  the  arm  he  would  have  cast  about  her ; 
face  was  averted;  her  breath  came  thick  and  fast.  Sup- 
osing  that  he  had  offended  her,  Robert  implored  her  for- 

veness ;    declared  the  complete  restoration  of  his  confi- 

nee ;  engaged  that  it  should  never  again  be  interrupted. 

"  Only  do  not  take  your  love  from  me !" 

"  My  love !"  she  repeated,  in  a  strange,  far-off  tone,  as 


356 


if  communing  with  some  phantom  of  the  past ;  "  you  do 
not  know  for  how  poor  a  gift  you  sue  !" 

He  eagerly  asseverated  that  it  was  to  him  the  highest  of 
earthly  prizes ;  that  it  alone  could  content  a  heart  that  had 
never  for  a  moment  turned  to  any  other  than  herself. 

"  I  have  tried  you  sadly  of  late,  dearest ;  have  not  seemed 
like  myself  to  you,  or  to  any  one  else,"  lie  continued,  peni 
tently.  "  But  I  have  been  on  the  rack  many,  many  times. 
I  blush  to  confess  it !  I  do  not  deserve  your  esteem  or 
affection." 

"  There  !"  With  a  bright  smile  she  put  her  hand  before 
his  lips.  "We  will  have  no  more  self-criminations;  no 
more  cross-examinations  of  one  another  !  no  more  unavailing 
sighs  over  the  never-to-be-recalled  past !  When  I  plighted 
my  faith  to  you,  we  said,  solemnly — c  until  Death  shall  part 
us  !'  I  have  meant  from  that  hour  to  this  to  keep  the  vow, 
and  I  must  believe  you  when  you  assert  that  you  have  never 
desired  to  violate  it.  A  vow  is  a  fearful  thing  !"  She  turn 
ed  paler  and  shuddered  slightly.  "  An  awful  thing !  and 
ours  was  not  a  light  one,  or  lightly  spoken.  Mine  shall 
stand  until  you  say  to  me,  of  your  own  accord,  '  I  wish  to  be 
free  !'  or,  as  we  said  that  day,  the  day  of  our  betrothal — 
'  until  Death  itself  part  us  !'  " 

Ere  the  last  word  quite  left  her  tongue,  the  shaded  lamp 
upon  the  table  behind  them  burst  with  a  report  that  sounded 
terrifically  loud  in  the  quiet  room,  and  the  inflammable  fluid 
that  fed  the  wick  flew  in  lurid  jets  over  the  floor,  the  furni 
ture,  their  clothing,  over  every  thing  within  a  radius  of 
eight  or  ten  feet.  The  explosion,  and  the  scream  Helen 
could  not  repress,  alarmed  the  whole  household — were  dis 
tinctly  heard  at  the  negroes'  dwellings  in  the  yard.  In  half 
a  minute  the  apartment  was  filled  with  a  frightened,  ques 
tioning  throng.  The  fire  had  caught  Helen's  dress  in  sev 
eral  places,  which  were  extinguished  by  Robert  before  the 


357 

flame  could  spread  ;  the  surface  of  the  mahogany  stand  was 
blistered  by  the  blazing  stream  ;  and  there  were  scattered, 
here  and  there,  scorched  and  smoking  patches  upon  the  car 
pet  and  wall-paper. 

When  Helen  recalled  her  senses  with  sufficient  clearness 
to  take  note  of  surrounding  objects,  several  servants  were 
upon  their  knees,  picking  up  bits  of  broken  glass ;  Mrs. 
Floyd  was  sobbing  hysterically  upon  the  sofa ;  Lily  standing 
by,  laughing  violently ;  and  the  colonel  was  cuffing  Gabriel 
to  and  fro  like  a  rubber  ball,  for  his  carelessness  in  having 
left  the  top  of  the  lamp  unscrewed  when  he  filled  it ;  "  else, 
how  could  the  fire  have  touched  the  camphene  ?" 

"  'Deed,  marster,  and  I  screwed  it  on  tight  as  tight  could 
be,  sur,  'fore  ever  I  lighted  it,  and  sot  it  on  de  table  thar', 
keerful !"  blubbered  the  boy. 

"No  amount  of  care  can  prevent  accidents  of  this  nature, 
colonel !"  ventured  Robert,  in  respectful  corroboration  of 
Gabriel's  self-vindication.  "  Camphene  is  a  dangerous  in 
vention,  neither  a  decent  servant  nor  a  merciful  master. 

"  Not  another  drop  shall  ever  be  burned  in  tin's  house 
while  I  am  alive  !  I'm  determined  on  that  1"  sobbed  Mrs. 
Floyd.  "  It  is  hateful  stuff,  and  I've  always  said  so,  for  all 
it  gives  a  good  light !" 

"  You  will  burn  it  until  doomsday,  madam,  if  you  live  so 
long !"  was  the  civil  response  of  her  husband  ;  and  giving 
Gabriel  a  parting  kick,  responded  to  by  a  dismal  howl,  he 
recommended  all  present  to  go  about  their  business,  and 
himself  set  the  example. 

Helen  acceded  to  her  aunt's  proposition  that  they  should 
adjourn  to  the  parlor — the  accident  had  occurred  in  the 
dining-room — but  stepped  back  after  she  had  reached  the 
hall,  to  look  for  a  handkerchief  she  had  lost.  Two  negro 
women  were  still  searching  for  fragments  of  glass  under  the 
table. 


358 


"  De  wust  sign  dat  could  'a  happened  !"  Helen  heard  one 
mutter  to  the  other.  "Death  and  partin',  sure!" 

"  Dat's  so  !"  assented  her  crony.  "  And  it  couldn't  mean 
nobody  but  one  'o  dem — for  wasn't  dey  a-settin'  close  by  it  ? 
Ah,  well !  poor  young  things !  if  so  be — " 

The  other  touched  her  to  be  silent,  perceiving  the  young 
lady's  presence,  and  Helen  pretended  not  to  have  listened 
to  their  prognostications.  Nevertheless,  her  nerves  were 
sadly  discomposed,  and  although  devoid  of  superstitious 
dreads,  she  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  odd  coincidence 
between  the  servant's  prophecy  and  her  own  words,  inter 
rupted  in  their  utterance  by  the  startling  incident.  So  hard 
was  it  to  shake  the  impression  from  her  mind,  that  she  re 
lated  the  circumstance  to  Robert,  when  he  was  about  leav 
ing  her  that  night. 

His  spirits  had  arisen  rapidly  since  the  conversation  in 
the  former  part  of  the  evening ;  he  had  never  been  more 
tender  in  manner,  more  hopeful  in  picturing  their  future, 
and  his  answer  to  her  story  was  a  hearty  laugh. 

"  You  regard  this  shabby  trick  of  that  detestable  cam- 
phene  as  an  omen,  do  you  ?  c  Death  and  parting,  sure,'  as 
ISTancy  says  ? — Breaking  glass  signifies  fractured  vows — and 
what  is  the  significance  of  the  fiery  baptism,  of  which  you 
had  the  largest  share  ?" 

"  A  blazing  temper,  perhaps !"  said  Helen,  saucily.  "  Take 
care !" 

"  Then  your  uncle  is  predestined  to  enact  a  volcano,  and 
not  you !  What  has  gone  wrong  with  him  lately  ?  He  has 
not  spoken  a  pleasant  word  in  my  hearing  for  a  month  and 
more." 

Helen  shook  her  head.  "  He  is  angry  with  you — more 
incensed  at  me,  because  we  will  not  be  puppets  in  his  hands. 
We  shall  soon  be  independent  of  his  humors,  so  we  will  not 
be  miserable  about  them  now." 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  359 

* 

"  Why  do  you  sigh  ?  Is  the  anticipation  of  liberty  so 
dreadful  ?  For  myself,  I  have  not  been  so  buoyant  and 
li^ht-hearted  in  weeks  and  weeks — if  I  ever  was  before.  I 

o 

had  hoped  that  you  felt  the  same." 

"  I  am  happier !  There  is  always  a  sure  peace  in  the  con 
sciousness  of  having  done  right." 

Whence,  then,  the  large  slow  drops  that  followed  one  an 
other  down  her  cheeks,  when  she  went  back  to  the  parlor, 
jifter  bidding  him  "  good-by  ?"  The  rest  of  the  family  had 
L'etired  long  before,  and  she  sat  down  on  the  rug  and  looked 
iit  the  two  chairs  standing  so  close  together  in  front  of  the 
ire.  Whence  came  the  sense  of  desolation  that  crept  over 
jier,  in  the  recollection  that  her  fate  was  now  doubly  sealed  ? 
hat  no  mortal  power  could  prevent  the  consummation  of 
he  engagement  she  had  that  evening  ratified  ?  Had  she 
ecretly  expected — guiltily  hoped  for — a  different  sequel  to 
he  momentous  interview  ? 

"  I  have  done  my  duty — kept  my  word  to  myself  and  to 
I  only  told  the  truth  when  I  reiterated  the  assurance 
f  my  attachment.  I  love  him  as  much,  and  in  the  same 
ay,  that  I  did  when  we  were  first  betrothed.  I  have 
unted  the  cost,  and  I  will  abide  by  my  decision.  After  a 
hile  I  shall  conquer  this  foolish  weakness.  Then  we  shall 
e  happy  together — quite  happy !" 

And  at  this  comforting  assurance  she  lapsed  into  an  agony 
f  weeping. 

Aleck  was  reading  in  his  chamber  when  he  heard  his 
rother  gallop  into  the  yard  on  his  return  from  Colonel 
yd's,  and  a  minute  afterwards  his  running  step  upon  the 
tair,  and  a  knock  at  the  door. 

"  Come  in  !"  he  said,  surprised  at  the  unseasonable  visit. 
Robert  entered,  blithe  and  glowing,  after  his  swift  ride 
the  cold. 
"  Al !  old  boy !"  he  began,  without  preliminary,  walking 


360 


straight  up  to  his  brother,  his  hand  outstretched,  "  I  have 
made  all  right  with  her,  have  told  her  that  I  have  acted 
like  a  brute  and  a  villain,  and  she,  like  an  angel — by-the-way, 
she  doesn't  fall  far  short  of  one !  —and  now  I've  come  to  beg 
your  pardon  for  my  shameful  treatment  of  your  friendly  ad 
vice — to  ask  that  we  may  stand  once  again  upon  our 
old  footing.  Quarrelling  is  a  new  and  unpleasant  business 
to  us,  my  dear  fellow !" 

"It  is!"  Aleck  wrung  the  proffered  hand.  "I  thought 
you  would  understand  me  better  when  you  came  to  think 
over  the  matter.  You  can  never  know  how  dear  your  hap- 
ness  is  to  me,  Robin,  or  the  pain  this  estrangement  has  cost 
me." 

They  sat  down,  side  by  side,  and  talked  freely  and  affec 
tionately — one  of  them  happily,  until  the  clock  struck  three. 

"  Never  mind  the  march  of  Father  Time  !"  said  Robert, 
as  the  other  exclaimed  at  the  lateness  of  the  hour.  "  The 
faster  he  gallops,  the  better  pleased  am  I !  We  shall  not 
have  many  more  such  seasons  of  dissipation  either.  The  hab 
its  of  a  staid  Benedict  and  householder,  such  as  I  hope  soon 
to  be,  must  be,  perforce,  diametrically  opposed  to  irregular 
hours,  and  I  fancy  that  your  Gretchen  will  knit  her  pretty 
brows  at  these  propensities  in  her  husband.  Ah !  Aleck ! 
you  have  not  acted  quite  fairly  with  me  in  that  affair.  Here 
I  have  turned  out  the  lining  of  my  heart  to  you,  and  you 
have  been  keeping  your  most  precious  secret  locked  away 
from  my  brotherly  eyes." 

"  I  do  not  understand  !"  answered  Aleck,  inquiringly. 

"  You  hypocritical  rascal !"  Robert  collared  him,  an 
searched  his  face  with  his  mirthful  eyes.  "  Do  you  persis 
in  your  deceit  ?  Is  Aunt  Ruth  the  only  worthy  depositar 
for  your  confidences  ?  Do  you  dare  to  deny  that  you  are 
every  whit  as  deeply  in  love  as  I  am  ?  still  to  keep  up  the 
flimsy  pretence  that  the  improvements  going  forward,  with 


• 


361 


such  un-German  velocity,  at  Maple  Hill,  arc  designed  for 
your  personal  delectation  and  our  good  aunt's  comfort,  you 
dutiful  dog  ?" 

"Soho !"  Light  beamed  over  Aleck's  puzzled  visage.  "  I 
begin  to  comprehend !  And  you  were  blessed  with  a  peru 
sal  of  the  private  and  confidential  missive  directed  to  Aunt 
Ruth,  and  crammed  with  eulogies  upon  the  little  German 
beauty  ?  You  were  so  verdant  as  to  swallow  the  hoax  I  in 
tended  as  a  reward  for  her  monthly  epistles  upon  the  dan 
gers  to  which  a  marriageable  young  man  is  exposed  when 
he  has  no  aunt  near  to  guard  him  from  temptation,  and  the 
passing  importance  of  making  a  judicious  choice  of  a  'pard- 
ner,'  as  she  pronounces  it?  Gretchen,  forsooth  !  The  jade 
never  cared  three  straws  for  me,  nor  I  one  for  her !" 

"I  am  glad,  and  sorry  too !"  replied  Robert.  "Pleased 
that  I  am  not  to  have  a  foreign  sister-in-law ;  very  sorry  that 
the  high  place  in  your  heart  is  yet  vacant.  My  happiness 
makes  me  sympathize  the  more  keenly  in  your  poverty  in 
this  regard.  You  could  love  warmly  and  truly,  Aleck ;  and 
if  you  had  that  summum  bonum  of  earthly  blessings,  Aunt 
Ruth's  well-chosen  '  pardner,'  would  prove  yourself  a  capi 
tal  husband." 

"  Thank  you !  If  I  ever  summon  courage  to  try  the  ex 
periment,  I  will  apply  to  you  for  a  certificate  to  that  effect," 
Aleck  promised,  with  a  laugh,  as  they  separated  with  an 
other  warm  clasp  of  the  hand. 

He  was  off  to  Maple  Hill  the  next  morning ;  spent  every 
day  and  nearly  every  night  there,  until  Christmas. 

Thorough  as  was  the  revolution  in  the  appointments  of 
the  long-disused  mansion,  it  scarcely  exceeded  that  going  on 
at  Greenfield,  or  the  tumult  which  prevailed  at  Belleview. 
Seamstresses  plied  hot  needles ;  hot  ovens  disgorged  loads 
of  cake  and  every  imaginable  species  of  delicious  home-made 
confectionery ;  the  din  of  scrubbing,  polishing,  and  hammer- 
16 


362 


ing,  was  lively  and  incessant ;  fires  burned  in  every  chim 
ney  all  day,  and  piled  the  hearth-stones  over  night  with 
huge  beds  of  live  embers ;  and  two  teams  of  stout  oxen  found 
abundant  occupation  in  hauling  wood  to  feed  the  throats  of 
the  voracious  smoking  monsters.  Mrs.  Floyd  was  too  busy 
to  heed  her  husband's  "  tempers,"  and  nothing  can  be  cited 
that  would  prove  more  strongly  her  absorption  in  the  great 
work  she  had  in  hand. 

Christmas  eve  came.  The  sun  set  gloriously  behind  the 
dark,  interminable  line  of  forest  bounding  the  view  in  all 
directions,  and  the  stars  glittered  dazzlingly  as  they  were 
kindled  in  the  clear,  frosty  sky.  Every  thing  gave  promise 
of  a  fair  day  for  the  approaching  festival.  In  Helen's  cham 
ber  was  collected  a  bevy  of  chattering  girls,  the  bridesmaids, 
busy  in  the  discussion  of  the  important  duties  before  them. 
Of  course,  all  talked  at  once,  and  each  strove  to  drown  her 
neighbor's  voice,  yet  Virginia  Shore  contrived  to  make  her 
self  heard  above  the  clamor. 

"  Isn't  it  a  shame  ?"  she  called  in  her  highest  key.  "  Helen 
declares  that  she  is  in  sober  earnest  in  refusing  to  be  mar 
ried  in  that  elegant  set  of  pearls  Mr.  Aleck  Lay  brought  her 
from  Europe !  I  tell  her  she  had  better  try  at  the  outset  to 
gain  the  blind  side  of  her  husband's  relatives,  and  that  his 
brother  will  have  a  right  to  feel  offended  at  the  manifest 
slight  put  upon  his  gift,  which,  every  one  can  see,  was  meant 
for  a  bridal  toilet." 

The  cabal  agreed  that  the  neglect  would  be  an  insult  and 
unpardonable,  even  were  the  jewels  as  tasteless  and  unbe 
coming  as  they  were  handsome  and  suited  to  the  owner  and 
the  occasion. 

"  But  what  ornaments  will  you  wear,  Helen  ?"  questioned 
one. 

Virginia  interposed  her  ready  tongue.  "  That  is  the  most 
nonsensical  part  of  the  story !  Nothing  but  a  pitiful  little 


363 


tea-rose  in  her  hair,  and  another  in  her  bosom,  and  just  be 
cause  Mr.  Robert  Lay  gave  her  the  bush,  and  this  is  the 
first  time  it  has  blossomed!  Isn't  that  too  love-sick?" 

Helen  remained  unmoved  by  the  ridicule  and  arguments 
of  her  finery-loving  train. 

"  My  mind  is  made  up !"  she  said,  pleasantly,  but  deci 
dedly,  to  their  varied  and  repeated  attacks. 

"  She  might  have  had  orange-blossoms  from  Lily's  green 
house,  if  she  wished,"  pursued  Virginia.  "  I  see  that  you 
have  a  tree  loaded  with  them,  Lily.  It  was  very  generous 
and  considerate  in  it  to  come  out  in  full  dress  just  now,  and 
in  you  to  keep  every  flower  and  bud  for  the  benefit  of  your 
friends." 

"  Not  one  of  them  shall  be  gathered  by  you,  or  any  one 
else,  for  to-morrow's  frolic !"  returned  the  proprietress  of 
the  flowers,  curtly. 

Virginia  stared  in  blank  astonishment. 

"  Why,  Lily  !  that  is  downright  stinginess,  and  not  what 
we  should  have  expected  from  you  !  We  girls  expected  a 
sprig  apiece  for  our  bouquets,  and  the  bride's  should  be 
composed  almost  entirely  of  them.  What  is  a  wedding 
without  orange-blossoms  ?" 

"  You  will  shortly  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing,  unless 
you  furnish  yourselves  from  some  other  quarter.  Not  one 
of  mine  shall  you  have." 

Apparently,  the  diminutive  beauty  was  what  would  have 
been  termed,  in  a  larger  and  homelier  woman,  "  desperately 
out  of  humor." 

"  One  would  think  that  this  tree  was  a  present  from  your 
true-love — you  value  its  productions  so  highly !"  observed 
another  "friend." 

Lily  bit  her  lip,  and  her  blue  eyes  emitted  sparkles  of  an 
gry  light.  Only  Helen,  of  all  the  girls,  knew  that  Robert 
was  the  donor  of  nearly  every  rare  plant  in  her  collection  ; 


364 


that  the  orange-tree  was  one  of  his  contributions,  she  hav 
ing  raised  it  from  a  graft  set  expressly  for  her  by  his  hand, 
three  years  before,  in  a  fine  bush  that  graced  the  Greenfield 
conservatory ;  and  Helen  did  not  know  how  sedulously  she 
had  tended  it  to  its  present  flourishing  estate ;  the  kisses  she 
had  showered  upon  its  glossy  leaves ;  the  tears  that  had 
lately  gemmed  its  snow-white  petals — but  the  random  hit 
was  stinging.  » 

"  Lily  is  quite  right,  allow  me  to  say,  young  ladies  !"  said 
the  bride,  coming  to  the  help  of  her  discomfited  rival. 
"  The  tree  is  too  beautiful  as  it  now  is,  to  be  spoiled  by 
your  destructive  fingers.  The  green-house  will  be  lighted 
to-morrow  evening,  and  the  orange  be  the  queen  of  the  floral 
belles." 

" I  comprehend !  'Touch  not  a  single  bough!'"  said 
Virginia,  dramatically.  "  But  I  want  to  ask,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Lay — Mercy,  Helen !  don't  murder  me  with  your  eyes,  and 
upon  rny  word  of  honor  as  a  lady,  I  won't  give  you  the 
title  again  until  the  minister  grants  me  leave !"  cried  the 
giddy  creature,  crouching  behind  the  chair  of  her  nearest 
neighbor,  in  affected  terror. 

"  What  were  you  about  to  inquire  ?"  said  Helen,  recov 
ering  herself. 

"Only  whether  you  expected  Mr.  Lay  over  to-night; 
whether  he  is  so  selfish  and  lover-like  as  to  deprive  us  of 
your  society  on  this,  the  last  evening  of  your  freedom  ?" 

"He  will  not  be  here,  I  think.  Do  you  want  me, 
Sally?" 

"No,  ma'am, — but  your  uncle  told  me  to  say  as  how 
he  would  like  to  speak  to  you  a  minute  in  the  office." 

Sally  had  never  said  "  master"  to  or  of  Colonel  Floyd, 
when  she  could  avoid  it,  since  the  shooting  adventure  in  the 
melon-patch.  She  did  not  belong  to  him,  she  used  to  boast, 
and  would  not  compliment  him  by  the  respectful  title. 


3G5 


To  the  office  Helen  bent  her  way,  leaving  her  fair  attend 
ants  to  talk  over  and  wonder  at  her  marvellous  serenity ; 
as  Virginia  Shore  had  it,  "  her  cool  style  of  taking  what 
threw  most  girls  into  fits.  Surely  no  other  woman  ever 
looked  and  acted  as  she  does,  upon  the  eve  of  her  marriage- 
day!" 

Helen  crossed  the  dining-room,  with  its  long  table  set 
for  supper ;  went  along  the  passage  beyond,  to  the  scene  of 
the  moonlight  talk  with  Robert,  on  the  evening  of  Aleck's 
return.  Upon  the  threshold  of  this  apartment,  the  wave 
of  renovation  that  had  swept  through  the  rest  of  the 
mansion  had  been  stayed.  There  was  more  lumber  stored 
there,  and  it  was  overspread  by  a  thicker  coat  of  dust,  and 
fringed  more  heavily  with  cobwebs,  than  at  Helen's  former 
visit,  and  the  dark,  airless  smell  of  the  place  seemed  height 
ened  instead  of  dissipated  by  the  fire  feebly  burning  upon 
the  hearth.  To  this  uninviting  retreat  had  Colonel  Floyd 
retired  with  his  tormentors — the  accounts  of  his  ward's 
estate,  or  papers  purporting  to  be  such.  They  were  scat 
tered  upon  a  dingy  table,  from  which  hung  tattered  strips 
of  baize  that  had  been  green,  and  whereupon  stood  also  a 
couple  of  candles  and  an  inkstand.  He  was  bowed  over  a 
great  book,  yellow  and  ink-spotted,  at  his  ward's  entrance, 
pen  in  hand,  his  countenance  grave  to  dolefulness. 

Helen  stopped  in  front  of  him,  keeping  the  desk  between 
them. 

"  You  sent  for  me,  I  believe,  sir  ?" 

"  I  did  !     Sit  down !" 

"  Thank  you !  I  prefer  to  stand,  unless  our  conference  is 
to  be  a  lengthy  one." 

"  It  need  not  be.  I  assuredly  have  no  wish  to  prolong 
it.  I  have  prepared  and  collected  a  few  papers  which  it  is 
necessary  for  you  to  sign,  in  order  tha,t  I  may  proceed  in 
the  work  of  legal  surrender  of  the  charge  placed  in  my  hands 


366 


by  your  father — the  care  and  management  of  your  estate. 
There  is  one !" 

He  pushed  towards  her  a  sheet  of  large  dimensions, 
covered  with  figures. 

"  I  will  take  a  seat,  since  this  is  to  be  inspected,"  said 
Helen,  coolly,  drawing  up  a  chair  with  a  broken  back — the 
most  secure  one  that  offered  itself  among  the  unfortunate 
collection — and  dusting  it  with  her  handkerchief. 

The  colonel's  brows  met  ominously. 

"  You  are  not  required  to  undertake  that  task.  Mr.  Lay 
has  examined  it,  and  is  satisfied  that  it  is  correct." 

"  I  do  not  see  how  that  can  be.  This,  as  I  learn  from  its 
caption,  professes  to  be  a  report  of  my  expenditures  since  I 
attained  the  age  of  fifteen — bills  for  clothing,  board,  pocket- 
money  furnished,  etc., — matters  of  which  Mr.  Lay  is  pro 
foundly  ignorant.  I  am  the  fittest  person  to  judge  of  the 
accuracy  of  your  statements." 

Unheeding  the  muttered  curse  at  her  "  perversity"  and 
"  unbearable  insolence,"  she  reviewed  the  long  columns  of 
numerals ;  dwelt  thoughtfully  upon  particular  items,  and 
raised  her  eyebrows  meaningly  at  the  sum  total. 

"I  shall  not  affix  my  signature  to  this,  sir!"  she  said, 
letting  the  sheet  fall  as  she  finished  its  study.  "  I  too  have 
a  statement  to  make,  which  it  is  proper  you  should  hear. 
My  uncle,  William  Gardner,  was  joint  guardian  with  you 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  date  when  this  ac 
count  begins.  Until  then  your  reports  were  subject  to  his 
examination.  When  you  assumed  the  entire  charge  of  my 
property,  I  opened  a  private  expense-book.  He  advised 
me  to  the  measure,  upon  his  death.  I  have  kept  it  with 
scrupulous  exactness,  in  anticipation — let  me  say — of  the 
final  settlement  upon  which  we  are  now  engaged.  I  can 
prove  by  it  that  the  sums  disbursed  by  you  for  my  ex 
penses  do  not  exceed  one-half  of  the  amount  you  have  here 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  36T 

set  down.  I  have  taken  pains  to  omit  nothing  in  my 
account.  Every  school-bill  was  copied  with  punctilious 
care  before  I  passed  it  to  you;  every  sixpenny  worth  of 
ribbon  was  registered  so  soon  as  it  was  procured.  I  cannot 
truthfully  certify,  as  you  wish  me  to  do,  that  I  have  re 
ceived,  either  in  ready  money  or  its  equivalent,  all  you 
declare  has  been  spent  by  and  for  me.  There  is  a  mistake 
somewhere,  and  a  great  one  !" 

"  Girl '  do  you  know  that  you  are  accusing  me  of  swind 
ling?" 

"  I  have  used  no  such  word.  I  have  said  that  there  is 
an  error  in  your  computation.  We  will  therefore  lay  this 
paper  aside  for  further  consideration.  Did  I  understand 
you  to  say  that  there  are  others  to  be  inspected  ?" 

"  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  '  inspect,'  since  you  are 
so  fond  of  using  the  word,  that — and  let  me  have  your 
ladyship's  judgment  of  it  ?" 

He  flung  an  envelope  over  to  her  so  rudely,  that  it  wizzed 
past  her  cheek  and  fell  to  the  floor.  Nowise  disconcerted 
by  his  violent  tone  and  action,  she  stooped  to  pick  it  up. 

"This  is  directed  to  Lily — not  to  me  !"  she  said,  reading 
the  address  upon  the  back, 

"  I  am  aware  of  that.  You  will  find,  notwithstanding, 
that  it  concerns  Miss  Helen  Gardner  very  nearly.  You 
recognize  the  handwriting,  I  presume  ?" 

"  I  think  that  I  do." 

"It  bears  a  very  tolerable  resemblance  to  Mr.  Robert 
Lay's,  does  it  not?" 

"  It  does !"  Helen  laid  the  letter  down  with  an  air  of  un 
concern. 

"  It  was  written  by  him,  and  intercepted  by  myself — " 

"  In  that  case  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  restoring  it  to 
the  rightful  owner,"  interrupted  she,  stretching  her  hand 
towards  the  letter.  He  secured  it  before  she  could  touch  it. 


368  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

"  You  had  best  not  be  over-hasty,  young  lady !  You 
may  reverse  your  decision  when  you  learn  the  contents  of 
this  epistle,"  tapping  the  cover  meaningly.  "  This,  which 
came  into  my  possession  this  very  afternoon,  confirms  what 
I  have  long  suspected — the  fact  of  Robert  Lay's  infidelity  to 
my  wealthy  ward,  and  real  love  for  her  poorer  but  more 
beautiful  cousin.  He  tells  Lily,  here,  that  his  heart  has 
failed  him  at  the  eleventh  hour ;  that  he  cannot  and  will 
not,  unless  driven  to  it  by  her  cruelty,  carry  out  the  pro 
jected  union  with  yourself,  and  proposes  an  elopement  upon 
his  wedding-day.  What  say  you  to  this  pretty  arrange 
ment  ?  It  offers  quite  a  refreshing  variety  to  the  ordinary 
hackneyed  style  of  entering  the  hymeneal  state,  does  it  not  ?" 

If  demon  ever  wore  a  more  fiendish  smile  than  the  sneer 
that  curled  his  lip  and  looked  evilly  from  his  eye  at  that 
moment,  it  must  have  been  the  prince  of  devils  himself. 

Helen's  features  hardened  into  stone  beneath  it. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  say  to  such  a  tale,  sir,  except  to  in 
sist,  still,  that  the  letter  shah1  be  delivered  to  the  person 
for  whom  it  was  intended !" 

"  You  do  not  care  to  read  it  yourself?" 

"  Certainly  I  do  not !     The  act  would  be  dishonorable." 

"  You  may  perhaps  not  object  to  glance  at  the  signature? 
It  is  boldly  and  well  written !" 

Before  she  could  draw  back,  or  divine  his  intention,  he 
thrust  the  open  page  abruply  under  her  eyes. 

"  Forever  your  own  Robert?  she  could  not  help  reading, 
in  the  round  comely  characters  that  were  traced  upon  many 
a  note  to  herself. 

"  You  refuse  to  take  it  still !  Your  principles  of  honor 
are  invulnerable,  your  curiosity  stagnant  ?"  mocked  her  com 
panion,  as  she  arose  in  offended  dignity. 

"  I  have  seen  no  reason  why  I  should  change  my  mind," 
she  replied. 


369 


"  Be  it  as  you  will !  I  shall  not  transmit  this  letter  to  the 
lady-love  No.  2  of  this  fickle  swain — shall  uphold  Mammon's 
cause  against  Cupid's,"  continued  Colonel  Floyd,  replacing 
the  epistle  within  the  envelope,  then  putting  it,  with  osten 
tatious  care,  between  the  leaves  of  his  pocket-book.  "  It  is 
my  duty  to  protect  your  reputation  and  your  cousin's  so 
long  as  you  are  inmates  of  my  house,  reckoned  by  the  pub 
lic  as  members  of  my  family.  Disgrace  is  a  word  unknown 
in  the  Floyd  annals.  Mr.  Lay's  disappointment  at  not  find 
ing  his  bonny  Lily  at  the  place  of  rendezvous  (not  a  eupho 
nious,  name  for  a  romance — Rock's  Tavern  !),  his  chagrin  at 
her  non-compliance  with  his  petition,  may  produce  a  reaction 
in  your  favor ;  so,  do  not  despair  of  seeing  him  in  his  ap 
pointed  position  to-morrow  evening." 

"If  he  comes  I  shall  marry  him,  without  demanding  a 
word  of  explanation !"  said  the  low,  determined  tones  he 
had  been  used  to  hear  from  her,  in  her  obstinate  moods, 
since  the  days  of  her  wilful  childhood. 

"  Very  well !  What  woman  ever  let c  a  good  chance'  slip 
through  her  fingers  ?  I  will  oppose  no  obstacle  to  your  man 
ifest  destiny,  which  is  to  show  yourself  to  be  as  grand  a  fool 
as  he  is  a  knave  !"  rejoined  her  guardian,  contemptuously. 
"  The  remainder  of  my  business  may  with  propriety  be  de 
layed  until  the  knot  is  tied.  '  There's  many  a  slip  'twixt  the 
cup  and  the  lip  !'  I  am  to  meet  the  amorous  bridegroom  at 
the  clerk's  office  at  eleven  o'clock  to-morrow,  when  he  ap 
plies  for  his ,  marriage  license.  It  will  then  be  seen  which 
of  my  wards  he  has  finally  decided  to  promote  to  the  dignity 
of  favorite  in  his  harem.  Fascinating  creature !  what  a  pity 
he  was  not  born  in  Turkey !" 

Nothing  but  Helen's  indomitable  pride  enabled  her  to 
carry  an  unblenching  front  up  to  the  last  word  spoken  in 
this  unlooked-for  trial,  this  unprecedented  emergency. 
Pride  was  her  master-spirit.  It  had  impelled  her  to  the  de- 


370 


struction  of  her  earthly  happiness  as  a  blind  for  a  slighted, 
broken  heart ;  had  bound  her  fast  to  the  fulfilment  of  a  rash 
and  sinful  vow  ;  it  came  to  her  aid  now  ;  strengthened  her 
to  cast  back  disdainfully  this  crowning  insult. 

"  If,  as  I  suppose,  this  is  the  climax  of  your  choice  obser 
vations,  sir,  I  will,  with  your  permission,  retire !" 

She  swept  him  a  lofty  courtesy  in  return  for  his  mock 
ing  obeisance,  and  walked  erect  and  haughtily  from  the 
room.  Once  out  of  his  abhorred  presence,  she  quickened 
her  stately  gait  to  a  rapid  flight;  traversed  hah1  and 
porch,  avoiding  lighted  apartments ;  gained  the  little  con 
servatory  in  the  rear  of  the  parlor,  shut  the  door  behind 
her,  and  sank  upon  a  bench  against  the  wall,  panting  and 
exhausted. 

"  Am  I  going  mad  ?  What  am  I  to  think  ?  What  can 
I  do  ?  GOD  help  me  in  this  fearful  strait !" 

The  glimmer  of  the  stars  through  the  glass  roof  met  her 
agonized  upward  glance,  as  the  unwonted  petition  broke 
from  her ; — the  holy  watchers,  beyond  whose  shining  bands, 
HE  dwelt  whqm  she  blindly  invoked. 

"  Of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil !" 

The  text  came  unsought  to  her  mind,  and  the  swift  infer 
ence  followed — "Then  HE  has  neither  notice  nor  compas 
sion  for  me !" 

They  still  beamed  mildly,  benignantly,  upon  her — the 
eternal  sentinels  of  Heaven  !  and  she  could  not  withdraw  her 
answering  regards.  Beneath  their  pure  rays,  as  under  the 
distilment  of  refreshing  dews,  feelings  trampled,  soiled,  and 
crushed  by  the  fierce  rush  of  earth-born  passions,  began  to 
revive  and  lift  themselves  anew.  She  had  sowed  the  wind ; 
— the  whirlwind  of  humiliation  and  despair  was  the  legiti 
mate  harvest ;  'but  her  proud  spirit  prayed  in  its  writhings 
that  she  might  be  spared  the  direful  punishment.  Slowly 
sinking  to  her  knees,  she  cried  out  of  the  depths  to  the  All- 


3T1 


merciful ;  with  tears  and  sighs  besought  Divine  succor  and 
support  amid  the  snares  that  encompassed  her. 

"  Lead  me  into  a  plain  path  ! — however  hard  and  thorny 
it  may  be,  I  will  tread  it  without  a  murmur  !  Strengthen  me 
to  tell  him  the  truth,  and  then  do  with  me  as  Thou  wilt. 
Keep  far  from  me  all  bitter  or  revengeful  thoughts  of  him — 
for,  oh  !  am  I  not  the  more  guilty  of  the  two  ?  Did  not  my 
sin  of  unfaithfulness  and  deceit  precede  his  ?" 

She  still  knelt — still  looked  upward,  in  inaudible  supplica 
tion,  accompanied  by  fast-flowing  tears,  when  the  lock  of  the 
door,  which  she  thought  she  had  made  fast  at  her  entrance, 
was  drawn  back,  and  a  figure  glided  in.  The  faint  starlight 
revealed  enough  of  the  small  figure  and  waxen  face  to  show 
who  was  the  intruder,  if  her  cousin  had  not  recognized  her 
by  the  noiseless  grace  of  her  movements.  Supposing  that 
she  had  come  on  some  errand  that  would  not  detain  her 
more  than  a  minute,  Helen  crouched  lower  to  avoid  being 
seen,  and  waited,  with  hushed  breath,  for  her  departure. 
Every  fibre  of  her  frame  thrilled  to  the  low  cry  of  agony  that 
stirred  the  silence  of  the  place.  Lily  was  standing  by  the 
orange-tree,  which  loomed  up  a  pyramid  of  dusky  white  in 
the  darkness  ;  bent  over  and  caressed  it  as  if  it  were  a  sen 
tient  thing,  while  sobs,  mingled  with  incoherent  lamentations, 
attested  the  depths  and  reality  of  her  sorrow. 

Helen  never  afterwards  inhaled  the  scent  of  orange-blos 
soms  without  a  return  of  the  heart-sickness,  the  deathly 
faintness  of  spirit,  that  came  over  her  in  that  season  of  pain 
ful  irresolution.  Lily's  heart  was  breaking, — and  she  stood 
between  her  and  happiness, — she,  with  her  empty  vows  and 
failing  resolution !  and  did  not  Robert  approach  the  altar 
with  a  divided,  if  not  a  recreant  heart  ? 

"  Oh,  Helen  !  if  you  could  only  know !"  said  Lily,  with  a 
fresh  paroxysm  of  tears. 

In  the  woman's  grief  there  was  still  a  touch  of  the  child's 


372 


fretfulness  and  impatience  at  being  thwarted.  Helen  seldom 
denied  her  any  gratification  which  it  was  in  her  power  to 
afford,  and  this  moan  appealed  to  the  sympathies  of  the  listen 
er  with  peculiar  and  pathetic  force.  She  was  the  elder  of 
the  two — the  stronger  and  wiser  ; — her  own  folly  and  per- 
verseness  had  brought  her  trouble  upon  her  ;  but  what  had 
this  poor  girl  done  that  her  life  should  be  blighted  ? 

"  She  does  know,  my  darling  !" 

Helen  put  her  arm  around  her  neck  ;  would  have  drawn 
her  to  her  bosom  ;  spoken  words  of  pity  and  of  promise;  but 
at  her  voice  and  touch  Lily  sprang  back  with  a  stifled  shriek ; 
in  her  mad  alarm,  struck  at  the  speaker  with  all  her  strength, 
and  sped  away  like  a  frightened  hare  at  the  sound  of  the 
hunter's  horn. 

The  assault  took  Helen  so  entirely  by  surprise  that  she 
staggered  against  the  orange-tree  and  fell  to  the  floor  with 
it.  When  she  regained  her  feet,  she  was  alone  in  the  dark 
ness.  She  would  not,  she  could  not  follow  Lily  then !  Hers 
was  a  generous  and  not  implacable  disposition,  but  it  was 
notdn  it  to  recover  immediately  from  the  indignation  awa 
kened  by  this  unfeminine  and  uncousinly  treatment.  She  had 
bruised  her  shoulder  against  the  flower-stand,  and  her  bosom 
ached  intensely  from  the  effects  of  Lily's  blow.  She  had 
not  meant  to  hurt  her,  Helen  knew — perhaps  had  not  recog 
nized  the  person  who  accosted  her  so  unexpectedly — but  her 
hand  had  fallen  sharply. 

"  To  morrow !"  Helen  promised  herself. — "  By  that  time 
she  may  be  ready  to  listen  and  I  to  speak  calmly.  A  night 
of  sober  thought  will  be  beneficial  to  both  of  us." 

Merriment  and  gamesome  entertainment  ran  high  in  the 
parlor  that  evening,  for  the  bridesmaids  were  not  withou 
their  attendant  tram  of  admirers.     Yule-log  and  Christina 
jokes  and  wassail-cup  were  not  wanting  to  enliven  the  youth 
ful  band,  who  watched  for  the  first  hour  of  the  Advent-day 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  373 

and  no  smile  was  brighter,  no  voice  more  ready  in  laughter 
and  song,  no  step  more  elastic  in  the  dance  than  were  Lily 
Calvert's.  Etiquette  and  inclination  for  once  united  in  advis 
ing  that  Helen  should  not  appear  below,  and  she  had  no 
fear  of  loneliness.  She  would  be  better  satisfied  if  they 
would  leave  her  to  herself. 

Lily  would  have  been  as  extravagantly  gay,  had  her 
cousin  been  present  in  the  hilarious  gathering,  for  the  blood 
that  never  tinged  the  alabaster  skin  yet  seethed  hotly  in 
her  veins ;  rushed,  a  tumultuous  tide,  to  and  from  the  heart. 
Says  Charlotte  Bronte  of  a  certain  crisis  in  her  heroine's 
life— 

"It  found  her  despairing — it  left  her  desperate — two 
evidently  different  stages  of  feeling." 

The  second,  and  more  trying  of  these,  Lily  was  now  learn 
ing. 

And  thus  passed  the  eve  of  the  wedding-day. 


374 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Miss  RUTH  had  slept  but  indifferently  well  the  night  be 
fore  Christmas.  Her  maidenly  dreams  were  vexed  by 
images  of  bridal  veils  ;  jellies  that  poured  from  the  moulds 
in  splashing,  insipid  liquids,  when  she  would  have  had 
them  pellucid,  flavorous,  and  firm;  torn  kid  gloves,  that 
could  not  be  mended ,  burnt  and  curdled  custards ;  cakes 
with  sticky  icing  and  streaky  interiors;  pie-crust  heavy 
with  rancid  butter,  or  tough  as  leather  for  want  of  the  for 
gotten  "  shortening ;"  nuptial  benedictions  ;  showers  of 
tears ;  hail-storms  of  kisses,  congratulatory  and  confection 
ery  ;  jumbled  inlf)  a  confusing,  distracting  medley,  that  al 
lowed  her  tortured  brain  not  one  hour  of  natural  sleep  out 
of  the  six  she  spent  in  bed. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  the  good  soul,  when  a  ray  of  red 
light  from  the  coming  sun  flecked  the  gray  East,  and  ap 
prised  her  that  the  world  would  soon  be  awake — "  upon 
my  word,  I  don't  believe  I  could  have  rested  worse  if  I 
were  expecting  to  be  married  myself  to-day — and  that  is 
saying  a  good  deal !" 

By  sunrise  she  was  dressed  and  had  mustered  her  troop 
of  menials.  The  happy  pair  were  to  come  home  for  the 
second  day's  feast,  the  splendor  of  which  was  to  suffer  no 
diminution  by  contrast  with  Mrs.  Floyd's  wedding-supper. 
The  same  company  would  be  present,  and  comparisons 
were  inevitable.  The  dear  woman  was  brave  and  confident 
in  view  of  all  this.  She  had  not  kept  the  cleanest  house  in 
three  counties,  and  the  best  table  in  six,  for  twenty  years,  to 


3Y5 


be  appalled  by  the  array  of  any  odds  of  this  kind  that  could 
be  brought  against  her — no !  no !  not  by  the  Floyds  them 
selves,  whose  profuse  hospitality  was  proverbial.  So,  buck 
ling  on  her  armor,  in  the  shape  of  an  immense  check  apron, 
two  breadths  wide  in  the  skirt,  reaching  to  the  bottom  of 
her  dress,  and  with  a  broad  bib  attached,  which  was  pinned 
up  to  her  double  chin,  she  walked,  with  her  prim  but  brisk 
little  pace,  to  her  cake-room. 

Cake,  cake  everywhere,  and  not  a  faulty  crumb  in  the 
collection !  Snowballs  whose  hearts  were  yellow  sponge, 
and  their  surfaces  white  satin  ;  loaves  of  "  pound,"  smooth, 
fluted,  and  beflowered,  conical  and  hexagon,  all  rich  enough 
to  guarantee,  on  their  own  responsibility,  a  fit  of  dyspepsia 
to  each  rash  taster  among  the  expected  guests ;  silver  cake 
that,  when  cut  and  heaped  in  alternate  slices  with  the  gold, 
should  present  a  pleasing  sight  to  the  eye  and  agreeable 
associations  to  the  mind  of  the  beholder ;  piles  of  slender 
"ladies'  fingers"  and  macaroons,  cocoa-nut  and  almond, 
light  as  a  feather  and  sweet  as  sugar ;  two  immense  struc 
tures,  precisely  similar  in  size  and  shape,  inwardly  a  tooth 
some  but  perilously  indigestible  conglomeration  of  currants, 
raisins,  citron,  and  spices,  held  together  in  a  not  very  strong 
union  by  a  cement  of  eggs,  sugar,  and  flour,  made  brittle 
with  butter, — externally,  twin  mountains  of  snow,  wreathed 
with  garlands  of  the  same  material  as  the  icing ;  and  upon 
the  summit  of  each  a  pink  Cupid — the  festoon  of  roses,  his 
insufficient  tunic,  offering  a  self-evident  apology  for  the 
exaggerated  flesh-color  of  his  cuticle,  when  the  thermometer 
stood,  as  it  did  this  morning,  at  the  freezing-point.  He 
trode  with  one  foot  upon  a  pair  of  hearts,  also  in  sugar, 
spitted  together  by  a  red  dart,  and  his  bow  was  drawn  at  a 
venture. 

Before  these  her  chefs-d'oeuvre,  being  the  bride  and  bride 
groom's  cakes,  and  destined  to  adorn  the  head  and  foot  of 


376 


her  dessert-table,  Miss  Ruth  paused  in  full  satisfaction, 
folded  her  hands  upon  the  check  apron,  and  set  her  head 
on  one  side.  A  minute  elapsed  before  she  spoke  or  moved  ; 
then  she  inclined  her  head  towards  the  other  shoulder, 
gently  rubbed  her  fat  palms  together,,  and  sighed,  in  sub 
lime  content — 

"  YES  !" 

A  shout  of  laughter  from  the  open  door  behind  her 
answered.  Her  nephews,  both  early  abroad  on  this  morn 
ing,  had  encountered  each  other  in  the  passage  leading  past 
the  apartment  devoted,  for  the  time,  to  the  geoius  who  pre 
sides  over  "  good  things,"  and  stopped  simultaneously  to 
inspect  the  array,  and  the  chief-priestess  of  the  temple. 

"  Yes  !"  repeated  Aunt  Ruth,  in  an  altered  tone,  a  blush 
creeping  up  to  her  cap-border. 

The  "  particle,"  as  first  enunciated,  denoted  the  height  of 
mortal  complacency :  now  it  signified — "  I  know  you  wicked 
boys  are  making  fun  of  me,  but  I  don't  care !  I  am  strong 
in  the  consciousness  of  merit." 

They  came  in — Robert  foremost — still  laughing. 

"  Aunty  ?  do  you  mean  that  Mrs.  Lay,  who-is-to-be,  is  to 
live  by  cake  alone  throughout  the  honeymoon  ?  That  would 
be  rather  too  impressive  an  illustration  of  the  saying, '  Sweets 
to  the  sweet !'  Hey,  Aleck  ?" 

Aleck  smiled,  but  somewhat  constrainedly. 

"  I  believe  that  caged  humming-birds  are  usually  fed  upon 
honey-paste,  as  the  diet  best  suited  to  their  constitutions 
and  tastes,  while  in  a  state  of  bondage.  Aunt  Ruth,  you 
have  excelled  yourself !  I  can  say  nothing  more  complimen 
tary  !" 

"  Wait  until  you  see  the  jellies,  blanc-manges,  charlottes, 
and  ice-creams !"  replied  the  housewife,  in  pardonable  vanity. 
"  Or,  rather,  until  you  taste  them  !  My  good  things  are  not 
show-pieces,  fancy  articles,  to  please  the  eye  only,  as  you'll 


377 


find  out,  Robert,  when  you  eat  your  second  day's  dinner 
and  supper." 

"  I  do  not  feel,  just  now,  as  if  I  should  ever  care  to  eat 
another  mouthful,"  said  the  groom,  expectant,  with  a  slight 
grimace.  "  I  was  scared  with  visions  last  night ;  tormented 
by  all  sorts  of  hobgoblins,  and  am  appetiteless  this  morn- 


ing." 


"  Yes !"  retorted  Aunt  Ruth,  slyly. 

"  I  suppose  that  it  is  a  common  symptom  in  the  circum 
stances  !"  answered  Robert,  coloring  a  little,  "  but  I  had  not 
expected  to  feel  exactly  as  I  do  on  this,  my  wedding-day." 

"  The  smell  of  the  cake  is  sickening  to  an  empty  stom 
ach!"  said  Aleck,  retreating  towards  the  door.  "  I  don't 
;see  how  you  can  endure  it,  Aunt  Ruth." 

Robert  overtook  him  upon  the  piazza. 

"  You  look  pale,  Al !"  he  remarked,  linking  his  arm  in  his 
brother's,  and  falling  into  step  with  him,  in  his  hurried  walk 
up  and  down  the  long  porch.  "  I  wish  that  I  could  attribute 
my  uncomfortable  sensations  to  bodily  ailment !  It  may 
sound  ungallant,  unloverlike,  and  pusillanimous,  but  I  must 
confess  that  I  could,  without  great  repugnance,  cast  my  vote 
for  a  postponement  of  the  *  happy  occasion,'  ardently  as  I 
have  desired  its  coming,  from  the  earliest  hour  of  my  en 
gagement.  I  wish  it  were  all  over!  I  grow  positively 
nervous  and  tremulous  in  the  anticipation." 

His  laugh  did  indeed  shake,  and  his  complexion,  usually 
clear  and  sanguine,  took  a  cadaverous  tinge. 

Aleck  gnawed  his  moustache — a  fierce,  restless  movement 
he  strove  to  conceal  by  passing  his  hand  over  his  mouth. 

"  I  suppose,"  he  said,  presently,  "  that,  as  Aunt  Ruth  in 
timated,  this  species  of  stage-fright  frequently  seizes  upon 
men  in  your  position,  and  that  persons  of  your  temperament 
are  peculiarly  liable  to  fall  victims  to  it." 

The  latter  clause  was  added  involuntarily,  as  it  were,  and 


378 


Robert  flushed  up  at  the  latent  touch  of  meaning  in  the 
accent. 

"It  is  sheer  nervousness — nothing  else!"  he  returned, 
eagerly — "induced,  I  verily  believe,  by  the  ugly  dreams 
that  beset  my  pillow  all  night.  One  vision  haunts  me  wher 
ever  I  look.  I  thought  that  I  sat  by  Helen,  holding  her 
hand,  and  talking  earnestly  and  happily  of  the  life  upon 
which  we  were  about  entering,  when,  all  at  once,  she  start 
ed  up  and  confronted  me,  and  I  saw,  instead  of  her  features 
— ugh !  I  will  not  tell  you  of  the  horrid  sight !  Yet 
I  dreamed  this  three  times,  and  awoke  half  dead  with 
fright." 

"  You  had  the  night-mare.  The  sights  and  smells  of  hot 
sweets  that  have  hung  about  the  premises  lately  have  been 
enough  to  give  any  one  dyspeptic  visitings.  Do  not  dwell 
upon  such  fancies!  You  are  but  deepening  impressions 
unsuited  to  your  real  feelings  and  the  actual  event  before 
you.  What  a  splendid  day !" 

"  Is  it  not  ?"  With  his  accustomed  elasticity  of  mood 
Robert  welcomed  the  change  of  theme.  "  Happy  the  bride 
that  the  sun  shines  on !  May  this  bright  Christmas  morn 
ing  be  an  augury  of  good  to  her !  I  shall  try  to  make  her 
happy !  If  zealous  endeavor  and  ardent  desire  of  mine  can 
do  this,  she  will  never  have  cause  for  sorrow.  Yet  I  have 
not  been  without  my  doubts  on  this  head." 

Aleck  made  no  reply,  and  they  took  several  turns  in  their 
promenade  before  the  other  resumed : 

"  She  is  a  singular  girl — a  woman  of  marked  character,  and 
I  have  often  feared,  recently,  that  we  did  not  quite  under 
stand  one  another ;  asked  myself  if  we  ever  would  attain  to 
that  perfection  of  mutual  confidence  that  constitutes  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  happiness  of  the  true  marriage.  There 
seems  to  be  a  background  of  motive  and  feeling  to  which  I 
am  denied  admittance.  Yet  I  do  love  her !  I  have  loved 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  379 

ler  from  the  time  when  we  were  happy  children  together 
—we  three,  and — Lily  Calvert !" 

There  was  a  slight  hesitancy  in  his  pronunciation  of  the 
ast  name,  and  Aleck's  eyes  fell  quickly — burningly — upon 
he  speaker's  countenance. 

"  Is  she  the  cause  of  the  misunderstanding  you  deplore  ?" 
asked,  sternly. 

"  Partly — and  yet,  no  !  You  wrong  poor  Lily,  Aleck, 
ind  I  fear  that  Helen  does  also.  I  know  the  child  better 
han  either  of  you  can  do.  There  are  many  allowances  to 
>e  made  for  her." 

"  You  make  many,  I  see !  But  we  will  not  revive  that 
ubject  on  this  day,  of  all  others.  A  year  hence  these 
rivial  differences  of  opinion  and  feeling  between  us  will  be 
jbrgotten,  will  have  died  a  natural  death  and  be  buried 
[vithout  parade.  And  sooner  still  will  fade  into  empty  air 
;he  imaginary  want  of  confidence  and  congeniality  between 
four  wife  and  yourself." 

"  You  are  the  prince  of  prophets — the  king  of  seers ! 
V way  with  bugbears  and  dreams!  Vive  1'amour!"  called 
»ut  Robert,  swinging  his  hat  around  his  head,  while  the 
arly  sunshine  wove  of  his  fair  hair  a  glittering  crown. 

Aleck  looked  at  him  with  a  loving,  aching  heart. 

I"  You  are  a  handsome  fellow,  Robert ;  I  do  not  wonder 
the  girls  fall  in  love  with  you !" 

"  Nonsense  !  You  are  the  right  sort  of  man  to  play  the 
leuce  with  the  softer  sex !  tall,  dark-haired,  dark-eyed,  and 
bearded  like  the  pard' — '  grand,  gloomy,  and  peculiar,'  as 
hat  rattle,  Virginia  Shore,  called  you  in  my  hearing  one 
Lay.  I  have  said  to  Helen  several  times  that  it  was  strange 
he  had  not  taken  you  instead  of  me.  You  would  have 
aade  a  splendid  couple !" 

"  Don't,  Robert !  it  is  both  wrong  and  foolish  to  run  on 
h.  that  strain,"  said  Aleck,  in  grave,  sad  rebuke.  "  I  can- 


380 


not  understand  how  you  bring  yourself  to  jest  upon  such 
theme — how  you  endure  the  imagination  of  resigning  he 
you  love  to  another." 

"  Because  it  is  an  imagination,  and  nothing  else !  Wha 
a  glorious  day!  Did  you  ever  breathe  such  invigoratin: 
air  before — ever  see  such  sunlight  ?  Every  beam  is  clar: 
fied  to  diamond  purity  and  lustre.  *  Happy  the  bride  tha 
the  sun  shines  on,'  I  say  again !  What  is  the  correspond 
ing  adage  ?  There  is  one,  isn't  there  ?" 

"  *  Blessed  the  corpse  that  the  rains  fall  upon,'  I  believe, 
responded  his  brother.  "It  runs  somewhat  after  tha 
fashion." 

"  For  pity's  sake,  man,  keep  your  death's-heads  out  o 
sight  when  you  can !"  Robert  exclaimed,  half-angrily.  " 
had  a  surfeit  of  them  last  night.  What  have  they  to  d 
with  daylight  and  bridals,  I  should  like  to  know?  Bu 
isn't  that  Gabriel  trotting  down  the  road  ?  I  hope  nothinj 
has  gone  wrong  at  Belleview." 

They  walked  out  to  the  gate  to  meet  the  Cimmeria: 
Mercury.  His  grin  and  bow  in  nearing  them,  his  saucilj 
deferential  "  Christmas  gift,  my  marsters  !"  dispelled  whal 
ever  anxiety  either  might  have  experienced  as  to  any  oul 
ward  calamity  in  his  master's  household. 

"All  well,  Mars'  Robert,"  he  replied  to  the  inquir 
after  the  health  of  the  family.  "  I've  brung  a  note  for  you 
sur." 

Aleck  turned  to  go  back  to  the  house  as  this  was  pre 
sented,  but,  against  his  will,  his  falcon  eye  saw  the  addres 
before  he  wheeled — so  carelessly  was  the  transfer  from  om 
hand  to  the  other  performed.  The  billet  was  directed  t< 
" Mr.  Robert  C.  Lay,  Greenfield.  In  haste"  and  the  chi 
rography  resembled  Lily's,  he  thought.  It  was  assuredb 
not  Helen's.  He  had  paced  the  porch  for  perhaps  fifteei 
minutes  when  Robert  joined  him.  Aleck  had  seen  hin 


381 


scribble  something  with  a  pencil  upon  a  scrap  of  paper, 
using  the  gate-post  for  a  desk  ;  fold  it,  and  give  it  to  the 
messenger ;  Gabriel,  meanwhile,  sitting  still  upon  his  horse 
and  eying  the  operation,  from  under  the  brim  of  his  old 
felt  hat,  with  intense  interest.  When  he  had  deposited  the 
reply  in  the  crown  of  the  said  head-covering,  he  set  off  on 
a  gallop  in  the  direction  of  home.  Then  the  bridegroom 
came  slowly  up  the  walk,  wearing  a  very  unbridegroomlike 
aspect,  re-reading  the  gilt-edged  sheet.  He  thrust  it  in 
to  his  vest-pocket  as  he  reached  the  steps  ;  mounted  them, 
and  continued  the  exercise  the  boy  had  interrupted.  He 
volunteered  no  explanation  of  what  Aleck  had  seen  and 
overheard,  although  he  looked  worried  and  perplexed,  and 
sighed  repeatedly,  in  deep  thought  or  sadness. 

Finally,  when  the  breakfast-bell  ended  their  matutinal 
stroll,  and  disturbed  his  re  very,  he  said,  with  an  appear 
ance  of  frankness,  laying  his  hand  upon  his  brother's 
shoulder, — 

"  I  am  ready  to  acknowledge  that  you  know  my  weak 
points  better  than  I  do  myself,  Al !  I  wish  I  were  more 
like  you  in  certain  respects." 

"  You  have  chosen  a  sorry  examplar  1"  replied  the  other. 
"  Act  out  what  conscience  and  honor  dictate,  Robin,  and 
you  cannot  go  wrong." 

"  Is  the  voice  of  feeling  then  to  be  wholly  disregarded  ?" 
asked  Robert,  looking  down. 

"If  it  militates  against  the  other  and  surer  monitors — 
yes — a  thousand  times,  yes  !"  said  Aleck,  emphatically. 

And,  "  Ah !  brother  mine !  we  are  made  of  different 
stuff!  where  you  would  be  adamant,  I  am  very  soft  wax — 
a  fickle,  cowardly  dog!"  ended  the  dialogue,  for  Aunt 
Ruth,  to  whom  every  minute  of  daylight  was  now  precious, 
appeared  in  the  house  door  to  expedite  their  progress  to 
the  dining-room. 


382  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

Robert  had,  as  he  had  said,  little  or  no  appetite  for  food, 
but  he  either  was,  or  feigned  to  be,  in  finer  spirits  than  he 
had  been  able  to  summon,  an  hour  previous.  He  ralliec 
Miss  Ruth  upon  her  household  arrangements ;  prophesying 
all  manner  of  failures  in  the  delicate  and  critical  manufac 
tures  that  yet  remained  to  be  perfected ;  teased  her  aboui 
an  antiquated  bachelor  planter,  a  former  beau  of  hers,  whc 
had,  he  affirmed,  been  fitted  by  a  Baltimore  tailor  with  j 
bran-new  suit  of  clothes,  to  be  sported  that  night,  in  th< 
hope  of  tempting  her  to  a  reconsideration  of  the  discarc 
she  had  given  him  twenty-five  years  ago  ;  condoled  witl 
his  brother,  because  of  the  probable  state  of  utter  isolatior 
that  menaced  him  in  his  sojourn  at  Maple  Hill,  in  view  oi 
his  housekeeper's  defection  and  desertion ;  inquired  gravely 
from  whose  establishment  the  marriage  would  take  place 
and  warmly  advocated  the  claims  of  Greenfield  to  thai 
honor ;  in  fine,  conducted  himself  in  such-  a  wild,  incon 
venient  manner,  that  his  aunt  was  heartily  rejoiced  wher 
he  obeyed  her  commands  and  quitted  the  table. 

Aleck  met  him  soon  afterwards  on  the  stairs,  equippec 
for  a  ride. 

"  You  allow  yourself  ample  time  for  your  jaunt !"  ob 
served  the  elder  brother,  taking  out  his  watch.  "  I  mean 
to  ride  with  you  so  far  as  our  way  remained  the  same,  bu 
I  have  not  ordered  my  horse  yet." 

"You  are  very  kind,  and  I  should  like  to  have  you 
company,  but  I  am  in  a  hurry,"  said  Robert,  pulling  on 
tight  new  buckskin  glove,  and  studiously  avoiding  Aleck'i 
eye. 

"  It  is  but  half-past  nine,  and  I  understood  you  to  sa 
that  you  were  to  meet  Colonel  Floyd  at  the  clerk's  offic 
by  eleven." 

"  Oh  !  for  that  matter,  twelve  would  do  as  well  as  elevei 
if  the  colonel  is  faithful  to  his  practice  of  unpuiictuality, 


383 


replied  Robert,  with  an  indifferent  effort  to  speak  gayly. 
"  But  the  truth  is,  that  I  have  another  engagement  at  ten — 
one  that  I  ought  not  to  put  off.  I  dare  say  you  might  not 
deem  it  obligatory  upon  yourself  to  keep  it,  you  are  such  a 
stone  pillar  in  firmness  and  fixity,  when  you  will  it  to  be 
so.  I  ought  not  to  say  more  to  you  about  this,  much  as  I 
ould  like  to  make  a  clean  breast  to  my  father-confessor, 
believe  you  never  unwarily  get  yourself  into  a  scrape.  I 
o  !  and  I  am  afraid  I  have  done  it  now.  Don't  look  as  if 
ou  thought  me  the  worst  fellow  living,  please !  Be  as 
haritable  to  me  as  you  can,  old  boy !  If  the  right  time 
ver  comes  while  you  and  I  are  in  the  flesh,  I  may  explain 
tters  more  to  your  satisfaction  than  now  seems  credible 
you.  Good-by !" 

Could  the   loving  kinsman  ever  judge  harshly  of  him, 
hile  the  image  of  that  face,  with  its  sweet  smile  and  in- 
enuous  eyes,  remained  stamped  upon  the  mind's  retina? 
long  as  the  pleading  tones,  gentle  and  fond,  yet  not 
ee  from  mournfulness,  continued  to  sound  in  his  ears  ? 
damantine  pillar  though  his  brother  regarded  him,  Aleck 
,  if  questioned  thus  at  that  moment,  have  replied  in- 
antly  in  the  negative. 

"  Robert !"  called  Miss  Ruth,  hearing  the  ring  of  his  iron 
eel  upon  the  frozen  walk  outside  of  the  window  of  the 
try,  where  she  was  up  to  her  ears — figuratively  speak 
g — in  calves'-foot  jelly. 

She  threw  up  the  sash,  and  he  leaned  upon  the  sill. 
"  Where  are  you  going  ?"    inquired   the  aunt,  without 
uspending  her   occupation   of  whipping   into   aggravated 
lor  and  foam  the  whites  of  a  dozen  eggs  she  had  just 
roken  into  a  dish  upon  the  table. 
«  To  the  Court  House." 
"  To  get  your  license  ?" 
i    "  Even  so.    You  are  a  very  Yankee  at  guessing." 

ijt 


384  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS. 

"  You  have  put  it  off  long  enough." 

"  Maybe  I  feared  that  we  might  change  our  minds  at  the 
last  moment.  '  There's  many  a  slip' — you  recollect !" 

"  Yes  !"  intensely  ironical. 

"  You  need  not  speak  as  if  that  were  impossible  in  this 
case  !  There  is  nothing  certain  in  this  world." 

"Except  death,"  said  Aunt  Ruth,  solemnly  oracular — 
feeling  herself  in  duty  bound  not  to  omit  an  opportunity 
for  dropping  in  a  seed  of  exhortation. 

"  And  taxes,"  added  Robert.  "  But  I  shall  not  believe 
that  I  am  really  going  to  commit  matrimony,  until  I  find 
myself  face  to  face  with  the  parson.  Aunty,  you  are  look 
ing  divinely,  to-day  !  Have  you  no  bowels  of  mercy,  that 
you  can  coolly  contemplate  the  certainty  of  driving  old 
Gales  to  desperation  by  the  spectacle  of  your  unapproach^ 
able  charms  ?" 

"  Yes !"  sneered  Miss  Massie,  in  lofty  incredulity ;  but 
the  wintry  bloom  deepened  in  her  plump  cheeks,  and  the! 
egg-whisk  flew  like  lightning  through  the  stiffening  froth.  I 

"  I  never  was  more  in  earnest  in  my  life  !"  pursued  thej 
nephew.  "Look  at  me,  as  at  an  imperfect  illustration] 
of  what  his  deplorable  condition  will  be.  Don't  you  see] 
that  I  cannot  tear  myself  from  the  survey  of  so  much 
liness?" 

Miss  Ruth  set  down  the  dish,  and  picked  up  a  swi 
from  a  bundle  that  lay  near,  to  furnish  rods  for  beatin 
trifles  and  creams.     Robert  dodged  the  blow — not  a  heavy 
one,  it  must  be  owned. 

"  Cruel  creature !  is  this  the  treatment  which  all  yo 
admirers  are  to  receive  ?"  he  complained,  at  a  safe  distanc 
"  Alas  for  Gales's  new  broadcloth !" 

"  When  are  you  coming  home  ?"  inquired  his  aunt,  digni 
edly.    She  would  have  no  more  of  this  foolery.     "Mind — 
must  have  an  early  dinner — at  two  o'clock,  anyhow !    There 


itch 
-ing 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  385 

a  world  of  work  to  be  done  yet,  and  I  can't  be  bothered  with 
waiting  for  you  boys.  Aleck  is  always  up  to  time,  and  if 
you  are  in  love,  I  want  you  to  remember  old  habits  for  this 

ce." 

"  I  cannot  promise  !  My  present  expectation  is  to  get 
back  in  decent  season  for  the  ceremony  to-night.  If  any 
thing  should  happen  to  detain  me  beyond  the  hour,  you  and 
old  Gales  must  be  spliced  in  our  stead—; pro  bono  publico — 
which  means  for  the  satisfaction  of  your  neighbors.  It 
would  never  do  to  cheat  the  company  out  of  the  show  they 
have  assembled  to  behold.  They  might  search  far  and  near, 
without  finding  a  more  seraphic  bride  than  you  will  make. 
Only — you  ought  to  wear  that  bib-apron  and  enchanting  cap, 
and  go  bare-armed,  as  you  are  now." 

A  pelting  rain  of  empty  eggshells  upon  his  head  and 
shoulders  admonished  him  to  retreat,  which  he  did,  reeling 
with  laughter,  and  glancing  over  his  shoulder  ^at  Aleck,  who 
lad  remained  upon  the  end  of  the  piazza — a  spectator  of  the 
spirited  scene.  How  handsome  and  light-hearted  he  looked ! 
Cravens  and  traitors  never  wore  such  innocent  and  joyous 
men ! 

"  lie  may  be  misguided  by  judgment,  unduly  swayed  by 
lis  pliable  temper  and  tenderness  of  heart,  but  he  can  never 

guilty  of  actual  and  deliberate  wrong !"  was  Aleck's  con- 
slusion. 

"  That  boy  will  plague  the  life  out  of  me  yet !"  said  Miss 
Ruth,  in  a  tone  intended  to  counterfeit  peevishness.  "  I 
lon't  know  what  has  got  into  him  this  morning.  It's  a  bad 
sign  for  a  bird  to  sing  before  breakfast.  The  cat  will  catch 
lim  before  night,  and  Robert  has  begun  the  day  in  too  great 
i  glee.  I  just  hope  he  mayn't  change  his  tune  before  sun- 
lown— that's  all !" 

"It  is  not  likely  that  he  will !"  returned  Aleck,  soberly. 

Gayety  is  natural  to  him,  and  if  ever  man  had  an  excuse 
17 


386  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

for  exuberance  of  spirit,  he  has.  I  am  going  over  to  Maple 
Hill  presently,  aunt.  Can  I  do  any  thing  for  you  there,  or 
on  the  way  ?" 

"  No,  dear  !"  She  petted  her  favorite  "  boy"  more  than 
ever  now-a-days,  from  some  indefinable  maternal  instinct 
that  told  her  he  stood  in  need  of  love  and  sympathy.  "  But 
I  would  like  to  have  you  come  home  by  two  o'clock,  if  you 
can,  conveniently." 

Her  manner  of  suggesting  the  wish  was  very  unlike  the 
imperious  style  in  which  she  had  laid  down  the  law  to 
Robert. 

"  Do  not  wait  for  me  !  If  I  dine  here  I  shall  return  by 
that  hour." 

"  You  ought  not  to  go  at  all,  I  think.  You  are  looking 
badly.  Come  back  early  and  take  a  nap  this  afternoon. 
This  evening's  work  will  be  no  trifle  to  you,  seeing  you  are 
first  groomsman  and  Robert's  brother." 

"  You  are  very  thoughtful,  but  I  hope  that  I  have  strength 
to  do  and  bear  all  that  lies  before  me,"  responded  Aleck, 
walking  away. 

He  nor  she  dreamed  what  unforeseen  exigencies  the  even 
ing  would  bring. 


387 


CHAPTER    IX. 

IT  was  not  often  that  Aleck  Lay's  eyes  played  him  false ; 
yet,  notwithstanding  their  evidence  in  this  case,  Gabriel  was 
Helen's  messenger.  She  had  arisen  early  on  her  wedding- 
morn — before  the  herald  ray  that  ended  Aunt  Ruth's  uneasy 
slumbers  pierced  the  darkness  of  the  night — and  committed 
to  paper  the  substance  of  a  confession  composed  during  the 
many  sleepless  hours  she  had  consumed  in  prayer  and 
thought.  She  no  longer  withheld  from  her  intended  hus 
band  the  secret  of  her  prior  attachment,  while  she  sedulous 
ly  concealed  the  name  of  the  one  she  had  loved,  and  all  cir 
cumstances  that  might  assist  in  leading  Robert  to  a  correct 
surmise  as  to  his  identity  with  his  brother.  She  had  suffered 
an  early  disappointment,  she  said ;  one  that  had,  she  was 
sometimes  led  to  fear,  deprived  her  of  the  power  of  ever 
loving  again  with  equal  fervor.  While  smarting  under  this 
blow,  she  had  precipitately  and  wickedly  received  his  atten 
tions,  and  entered  into  the  engagement  of  marriage  now  ex 
isting  between  them. 

"  I  beg  that  you  will  acquit  me  of  having,  in  this  transac 
tion — culpable  as  it  was — been  guilty  of  wilful  wrong  to 
you,"  she  wrote,  in  continuation.  "  I  was  persuaded,  when 
I  promised  you  my  hand,  as  I  am  now,  that  I  could  give 
you  all  the  heart  I  have  left  to  bestow  upon  any  man.  I  love 
you  sincerely,  appreciatively,  as  a  friend  who  is  nearer  to 
me  even  than  a  brother  could  be.  'I  can  pledge  you  my 
faith  without  a  sigh  for  a  happier  lot ;  can  take  honestly  upon 


388  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

me  the  vows  of  wedded  fidelity.  It  will  cost  me  no  strug 
gle  to  love,  honor,  and  obey  one  whom  I  know  to  be,  in  all 
respects,  worthy  of  my  affection  and  duty. 

a  Yet  before  we  set  the  indissoluble  seal  to  a  contract  that 
death  only  can  render  void,  it  is  best,  for  both  our  sakes, 
that  the  work  of  self-examination  should  be  severe  and 
thorough,  and  its  result  undisguised  from  each  other.  I 
have  unveiled  my  past  history — the  saddest  chapter  of  my 
life — to  you,  and  I  have  surely  a  right  to  expect,  if  not  to 
demand,  a  corresponding  degree  of  candor  in  you.  Robert ! 
I  charge  you  by  every  principle  of  truth,  honor,  and  manli 
ness,  to  answer  me  plainly  one  question — Do  you  love  Lily 
Calvert  f  I  do  not  inquire  if  your  conduct  to  her  has  been, 
in  every  respect,  consistent  with  your  engagements  to  my 
self;  if  you  have  ever  given  her  cause  to  believe  that  your 
attachment  for  her  transcended  that  which  her  old  playfellow 
and  friend  might  innocently  indulge  and  manifest.  I  look 
deeper ;  appeal  solemnly  to  the  innermost  depths  of  your 
own  consciousness — depths  unknown  save  to  yourself  and 
your  God.  Marriage  is  a  momentous  step.  I  have  felt  this 
within  the  past  twelve  hours  as  I  never  thought  to  do.  I 
beseech  you  to  give  the  subject  your  most  earnest  consider 
ation.  If,  as  I  apprehend,  from  my  knowledge  of  facts  con 
nected  with  your  intercourse  with  Lily,  and  my  acquaint 
ance  with  both  your  characters,  you  decide  that  your  senti 
ments  for  her  are  more  like  those  a  husband  should  have  for 
his  wife  than  the  love  you  bear  me, — your  way  and  mine 
are  plain.  Do  not  act  unfairly  to  yourself  and  to  me — cruel 
ly  to  her,  from  the  consideration  that  you  have  gone  too  far 
to  retrace  your'  course  with  honor.  I  have  excellent  reasons 
for  believing  that  Colonel  Floyd  is  already  cognizant  of  your 
affection  for  his  niece,  and  that  your  union  with  her  would 
be  far  more  acceptable  to  him  than  the  one  you  at  present 
contemplate. 


389 


"  This  is  ray  proposition,  if  the  result  of  your  deliberation 
should  be  what  I  expect.  Write  me  a  line  by  the  bearer  of 
this,  advising  me  of  your  purpose  :  then  ride  over  to  see  Lily, 
this  morning.  Ask  boldly  for  her,  and  if  you  gain  her  con 
sent  to  the  course  we  have  concluded  to  adopt,  afterwards 
keep  your  appointment  with  Colonel  Floyd,  and  have  the 
license  filled  up  with  your  name  and  hers.  I  know  what  I 
say,  when  I  assert  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  your  meet 
ing  impediments  in  your  path. — Even  if  you  should,  it  is  the 
right  one — the  only  plan  you  can  with  rectitude  pursue. 
This  done,  commit  the  rest  to  me.  You  have  often  praised 
my  daring  and  self-possession,  and  I  engage  to  afford  you, 
in  this  instance,  a  notable  display  of  both  qualities.  Instead 
of  frowns  you  shall  meet  nothing  but  smiles  from  the  wit 
nesses  of  your  marriage  ceremony ;  congratulations  upon  the 
cleverness  of  the  ruse  that  has  deluded  the  community  into 
the  belief  that  you  were  betrothed  to  one  cousin,  while  you 
were  really,  with  her  knowledge  and  approbation,  plighted 
to  the  other.  I  am  aware  that  this  looks  like  a  bold  scheme, 
and  that  my  programme  of  arrangements  is  unprecedented 
in  the  chronicles  of  courtship  ;  but,  Robert,  dear  friend !  we 
have  had  enough  of  half-confidences  and  harrowing  misun 
derstandings.  Let  us,  at  the  very  base  of  the  altar,  throw 
off  the  mask  of  unworthy  deception,  that  must  work  out  a 
weary  weight  of  misery  to  us  in  the  end,  and  appear  in  our 
real  characters — dare  to  tell  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth ! 
I  plead  for  Lily's  sake  no  less  than  for  ours. 

"  But  if,  after  all,  my  misgivings  have  been  groundless, 
my  penetration  at  fault  with  respect  to  your  feelings  in  this 
affair ;  if  you  are  still  prepared  to  attest  your  love  for  me  by 
marrying  me,  I  stand  ready  and  willing  to  fulfil  my  part  of 
our  agreement.  A  line  or  word  sent  by  Gabriel  to  the  effect 
that  *  all  is  right'  will  suffice  to  convey  your  intention  to  me. 
Since  T  have  confided  to  no  one  the  step  I  have  resolved  to 


390  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 

take  in  the  writing  of  this  note,  there  need  be  no  inconve 
nient  explanations.  Matters  can  go  on  in  their  present  train, 
and  I  shall  expect,  you  at  the  appointed  hour.  I  leave  the 
decision  with  you.  It  will  be  fraught  with  important  con 
sequences  to  us,  and  I  pray — if  indeed  my  unworthy  peti 
tions  ever  reach  Heaven — that  you  may  be  guided  aright. 
Whatever  your  determination  may  be,  believe  that  I  must 
ever  remain 

"  Yours  affectionately  and  truly, 

"HELEN." 

If  this  novel  epistle  strike  somewhat  too  boldly  at  the 
root  of  established  prejudices  and  precedent  in  love  and 
match-making,  the  shocked  reader  will  please  bear  in  mind 
that  the  writer  was,  as  her  betrothed  had  affirmed,  "  a  sin 
gular  girl — a  woman  of  marked  character."  This  was 
further  demonstrated  by  the  exclamation  with  which  she 
arose  from  her  writing-table,  when  the  departing  footsteps 
of  her  post-boy  had  died  away  in  the  corridor. 

"  Now,  whatever  comes,  I  can  respect  myself  once 
more !" 

She  had  borrowed  Gabriel  privately  from  her  aunt — an 
accommodation  arranged  between  them  the  preceding  even 
ing — and  to  insure  secrecy  on  the  subject  of  his  errand, 
rather  than  to  enjoin  him  to  the  needful  exercise  of  faithful 
ness  and  despatch,  she  had  him  summoned  to  her  chamber 
and  herself  gave  him  his  orders.  The  imp  was  agog  with 
anticipations  of  "  Christmas  times,"  including  the  wedding, 
and  Helen  contributed  further  to  his  exhilaration  by  a  boun 
tiful  douceur  in  honor  of  the  day  he  was  prepared  to  cel 
ebrate.  But  he  hearkened  with  a  tolerable  semblance  of 
decorous  seriousness  to  her  instructions,  received  the  pack 
et,  and  buttoned  it  with  exceeding  care  inside  of  his  round 
about,  and  pledged  himself  to  inviolable  discretion.  He 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WABDS.  391 

was  very  fond. of  Helen,  whose  steady  favor  and  kindness 
were  in  grateful  contrast  to  Mrs.  Floyd's  fidgetiness,  her 
lord's  harshness,  and  Lily's  caprices.  His  young  mistress 
did  not  doubt  that  she  could  rely  upon  him  in  a  matter 
requiring  so  much  zeal  and  intelligence. 

She  enacted  her  part  well  at  breakfast-time ;  was  not  only 
collected  and  cheerful  in  deportment,  but  vivacious  in  talk, 
with  sprightliness  more  real  in  appearance  than  was  Lily's 
factitious  animation.  The  latter  came  down  late,  as  she  gen 
erally  did,  and,  Helen  fancied,  avoided  her  cousin  markedly 
and  coldly. 

"  By  and  by,"  was  the  elder's  consolation,  "  I  may  be 
permitted  to  tell  her  all,  and  she  will  do  my  affection  justice. 
Until  then,  the  less  we  say  to  one  another  the  better.  I 
will  not  rush  into  temptation,  and  I  must  await  his  warrant 
for  speech." 

Altogether,  it  was  a  merry  party,  with  the  exception  of 
Colonel  Floyd,  whose  settled  moroseness  did  not  affect 
them  long,  since  he  ate  little,  and  withdrew  from  the  table 
before  any  one  else  was  half  through  the  meal.  The 
bride's  room  was  the  popular  resort  of  the  young  ladies 
during  the  day,  and  Helen  could  not,  without  positive  rude 
ness,  seclude  herself  for  thought  or  preparation.  The 
gentlemen  wisely  dispersed  to  parts  unknown  directly  after 
breakfast,  most  of  them  not  showing  themselves  again  until 
evening. 

Helen  was  affecting  to  attend  to  and  bear  a  part  in  the 
frivolous  chit-chat  rung  into  her  nervous  ears  by  the  knot 
of  idle  pleasure-lovers  about  her,  when  Sally  opened  the 
door  just  wide  enough  to  allow  her  mistress  a  glimpse  of 
her  face,  and  made  her  signal,  unobserved  by  the  others. 
Helen  felt  the  blood  curdle  suddenly  about  her  heart,  and 
numbness  seize  upon  her  limbs,  at  the  apparition  for  which 
she  had  watched  so  long.  The  sign  notified  her  of  Gabriel's 


392  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 

return.  With  an  unintelligible  murmur,  intended  as  an 
apology  to  her  associates  for  leaving  them,  she  walked  tot- 
teringly  into  the  entry,  where  she  found  her  messenger.  It 
did  not  occur  to  her  then  that  he  looked  or  acted  unlike 
himself,  although  his  cowed,  sulky  behavior  produced  an 
unfavorable  impression  upon  Sally,  who  was  interrogating 
him  with  considerable  asperity  as  to  the  causes  of  his  dila- 
toriness. 

"You  stopped  to  play  'long  the  road,  I'll  be  bound!" 
she  was  saying  when  Helen  emerged  from  her  chamber, 
"  or,  you  went  out  of  your  way  to  go  by  the  Court  House. 
That's  always  the  way  with  you  good-for-nothing  chaps. 
So  sure  as  you  get  a  cent  to  spend,  you're  crazy  till  it's 
gone." 

"  That  will  do,  Sally  !"  interposed  Helen,  faintly.  "  Did 
you  deliver  that  letter  safely,  Gabriel  ?" 

"  Yes,  ma'am !"  dropping  his  head,  with  a  hang-dog 
expression,  altogether  unlike  his  accustomed  pertness. 

"  And  you  have  an  answer  for  me  ?" 

"  No,  ma'am.  He  say  dere  was  none,  and  tole  me  jes' 
fur  to  tell  you  dat  all  was  right,"  answered  the  page,  mus 
tering  his  briskness,  but  forlornly  enough. 

"  You  are  sure  ?  Have  you  made  no  mistake  ?  Had 
you  that  message  from  Mr.  Lay  himself?"  pressed  Helen, 
in  the  earnestness  of  the  dying  hope  whose  existence  she 
had  not  confessed  to  herself  until  this  instant. 

Annoyed  or  nerved  to  boldness  by  the  implied  doubt  of 
the  accuracy  of  his  report,  Gabriel  looked  up  straight  at 
her — an  exhibition  of  courage  or  forwardness  bordering 
upon  effrontery. 

"  I  done  tell  you  de  'xact  truth,  Miss  Helen  !  He  say  as 
how  you'd  onderstand  it,  and  I  must  be  pertickler  to  'peat 
it  jes'  as  he  said  it,  and  I  s'posed  you  would  be  satisfied  ef 
he  was!" 


393 


"  You  disrespectful  little  vilyan  ?"  exclaimed  Sally,  lend 
ing  him  a  cuff  upon  the  ear.  "  Do  you  know  who  you're 
talkin'  to  ?" 

"  You  lemme  'lone,  now !  you'd  better !"  growled  the 
unlucky  urchin,  doubling  up  his  fists.  "  I  won't  be  blag- 
garded  by  women,  and  black  ones,  at  dat,  nohow !" 

"  Shame !"  Helen's  native  dignity  was  aroused  at  the 
disgraceful  altercation.  "  You  both  forget  where  you  are ! 
I  am  ashamed  of  you  !  Gabriel !  go  down-stairs  directly. 
Sally,  I  forbid  you  to  speak  to  him  again  this  day !" 

Gabriel  was  too  glad  to  slink  away,  wiping  his  eyes  and 
nose  upon  his  jacket-sleeve ;  but  Sally  stopped  her  mistress, 
who  would  have  passed  her  by  in  offended  silence. 

"  If  you  please,  Miss  Helen,  I'm  very  sorry  I've  displeased 
you  'pon  your  weddin'-day,  but  I  mistrusted  that  boy  had 
been  up  to  some  mischief,  and  maybe  lost  your  letter  or 
the  answer — he  looked  so  kind  o'  guilty,  and  I  spoke  sharp 
to  him  before  I  remembered  myself — " 

"Never  mind,  my  good  girl !"  Helen  interrupted  the  ex 
cuse,  that  was  fast  becoming  a  tearful  one.  "  I  know  you 
meant  it  for  the  best.  We  are  all  apt  to  act  hastily  and 
foolishly  sometimes,  and,  as  you  have  said,  it  is  my  wedding- 
day,  and  I  ought  to  overlook  trifles." 

Her  smile  was  positively  ghastly  as  she  repeated,  musingly 
— "  Yes  !  it  is  my  wedding-day !  There  is  no  doubt  of  it 
now — none  !  none !" 

She  walked  slowly  away  to  the  other  extremity  of  the 
hall ;  halted  by  a  window,  and  seemed  to  look  out. 

"  It  is  a  beautiful  day !"  she  said  at  length,  less  dreamily. 
"  I  think,  Sally,  that  I  should  enjoy  one  more  good,  long, 
lonely  walk  in  the  woods.  Will  you  bring  me  my  hood 
and  cloak  ?  and  take  care  that  nobody  sees  you !  I  do  not 
feel  like  having  company." 

She  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  house  and  yard  with- 

ir* 


394 


out  being  challenged,  and  took  the  beaten  path  to  the 
spring.  At  the  rocky  seat  beside  it  she  paused  a  long 
while,  remembering  what  was  buried  beneath  the  rugged 
tomb,  and  the  binding  words — more  binding  now  than  ever 
— so  soon  to  be  irrevocable — that  had  been  spoken  above  it 
— "Until  Death  parts  us!"  Then,  stooping  and  pressing 
her  hand,  as  in  caressing  farewell,  upon  the  rough,  gray 
surface,  she  said  firmly — "  Let  the  dead  Past  bury  its  dead  !" 
and  ascended  the  wooded  eminence  beyond. 

She  stopped  again  when  she  reached  the  great  oak  where 
she  and  Robert  had  held  their  "business  talk"  on  that 
moonlight  November  night.  The  first  shadow  of  estrange 
ment  had  fallen  upon  them  then  and  there.  It  was  all  her 
fault  that  the  cloud  arose — since,  while  she  was  striving  to 
act  up  to  the  strict  requirements  of  the  duty  she  owed  him, 
her  heart  was  in  wild,  almost  unconquerable  revolt. 

"  No  wonder  that  he  was  chilled  and  repelled  !  no  wonder 
that  I  have  absolutely  driven  him  from  me  scores  of  times 
since  then ;  forced  him  to  seek  consolation  in  another's  sym 
pathy,  if  not  happiness  in  another's  love !  But  we  under 
stand  each  other  now — quite  well !  With  our  eyes  open  to 
the  truth,  each  knowing  the  other's  peculiar  temptation,  we 
are  ready  to  unite  hands  and  lives,  '  for  better,  for  worse.' 
Heaven  helping  me,  I  shall  try  to  please  him  in  all  things ; 
to  make  him  content,  that  he  may  not  repent  his  choice !" 

How  vividly  every  incident  of  that  evening  stroll  was 
stamped  upon  her  memory !  Even  Sally's  sleepy  approach, 
and  the  reason  she  had  given  her  mistress,  subsequently,  for 
her  interruption  of  the  lover's  conversation,  were  not  forgot 
ten.  The  fugitive  Lem  had  never  been  recovered,  but  the 
dread  of  runaways,  so  common  amcng  the  women  and  chil 
dren  of  the  slaveholding  States — the  bugaboos  of  nursery 
and  fireside  tales — had  never  had  a  hold  upon  Helen's  mind. 
What  she  most  feared  just  now  was  the  society  of  her  fel- 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  395 

lows ;  what  she  sought,  in  her  feverish  restlessness  of  body 
and  spirit,  was  solitude  for  reflection — and  to  gain  it  she 
plunged  more  deeply  into  the  trackless  forest.  The  ravines, 
whose  moss-grown  depths  and  sides,  thickly  fringed  with 
brushwood,  afforded  cool  and  tempting  retreats  in  the  sum 
mer's  heat,  offered,  at  this  season,  warmer  nooks  than  were 
to  be  found  upon  higher  ground.  At  the  distance  of  near 
ly  half  a  mile  from  the  spring,  Helen  espied  a  resting-place 
ithat  suited  her  fancy  and  purpose.  Letting  herself  down 
la  steep  bank,  overhung  by  dwarf  cedars,  she  gained  a  white 
jstone  deeply  imbedded  in  moss  and  fallen  leaves — and,  al 
though  but  a  few  feet  above  the  frozen  rivulet  that  had  worn 
the  chasm  to  its  great  depth,  forming  a  dry  and  comfortable 
beat.  It  had  been  one  of  her  girlhood's  tricks  to  seek  out 
such  nooks  and  take  possession  of  them  while  she  read, 
studied,  or  dreamed,  as  her  mood  disposed  her  to  do. 

She  was  not  studying  or  dreaming  now,  she  would  have 
said,  yet  she  had  matter  for  thought  that  kepi:  her  there  a 
long  while — how  long,  she   never  exactly  knew.     She    sat 
motionless  as  the  stone  itself,  leaning  listlessly  against  the 
stout  cedar  clump  that  kept  off  the  wind,  if  there  were  any 
stirring.     There  were  not  many,  and  they  were  exceedingly 
:rivial  occurrences,  to  diversify  the  monotonous  passage  of 
r.he  hours  or  minutes,  whichever  they  were.     A  torpor  of 
Misery  had  complete  mastery  over  her;  and,  with  a  dull  con 
sciousness  that  after  this  woesome  day  it  would  be  crime  to 
Held  to  its  desolate  entrancement,  she  was  passive,  and  let 
•lie  gloomy  spell  work  unchecked.     The  penitence  and  high 
er  resolve  of  the  preceding  night  were  recalled  in  stupid 
jnarvel  how  she  happened  to  feel  thus — what  power  support 
ed  her  then,  and  bore  her  thoughts  and  aspirations  into  a 
<  {rarer,  nobler  sphere.     She  could  not  pray  or  determine  now. 
3he  had  expended  her  energy  in  penning  that  useless,  may- 
•  >e  worse  than  useless  letter,  which  Robert  had  not  deemed 


396 


worthy  of  a  line  of  reply.  The  die  was  cast  by  another's 
hand,  and  she  must  abide  by  the  throw.  Ah,  well !  what 
was  easier,  in  the  abstract,  than  to  do  nothing?  How 
arduous  she  found  the  practice  of  quiescence,  concerned 
nobody  except  herself. 

A  few  winter  birds  hopped  from  bough  to  bough  of  the 
cedars,  in  quest  of  the  blueberries  that  grew  thereupon. 
She  smiled  vacantly  in  perceiving  that  they  were  not  scared 
at  seeing  her.  Perhaps  their  bright  eyes  were  too  intent 
upon  their  search  for  food  to  observe  the  presence  of  the 
intruder,  for  her  green  cloak  and  hood  offered  no  striking 
contrast  to  the  dark  verdure  of  the  evergreens.  Once  she 
heard  a  gun — not  very  far  away  it  seemed  in  the  still,  clear 
day — but  the  report  did  not  startle  her — only  as  it  served 
to  awaken  more  poignant  reminiscences  than  those  upon 
which  she  was  meditating  when  the  sharp  echo  rolled 
through  the  leafless  woods,  was  caught  and  repeated  by  the 
ravines,  and  died  away  sullenly  among  the  distant  hills. 
Did  Aleck  ever  think  of  her  last  hunt  ?  of  the  watch  she 
ha'd  kept  beside  him  in  the  Greenfield  woodlands  ?  Was 
the  scar  yet  upon  his  shoulder  ?  What  a  cruel  wound  it 
was !  how  fast  the  blood  trickled  through  her  fingers  as  she 
renewed  the  compress  Robert  had  applied,  when  it  became 
deranged  by  the  incautious  movement  of  the  injured  lad! 
Had  he  forgotten  all  these  things  ?  Did  he  hate  and  despise 
her  when  he  looked  at  the  mark  left  by  the  shot  ? 

She  wished,  at  times,  that  he  did  hate  her,  and  that  she 
knew,  for  certain,  that  he  felt  this  aversion.  Any  active 
sentiment  would  be  preferable  to  his  unvarying  coldness,  his 
studied  civility,  his  constrained  address. 

"  How  little  I  imagined  in  the  dear  old  times — " 
She  did  not  finish  the  sentence,  but  a  single  tear  forced 
its  way  from  under  the  lid  and  dropped  upon  her  hand.    She 
shed  but  that  one. 


397 


Again,  a  crow  sailed  slowly  between  her  and  the  sun,  and 
the  shadow  crossing  the  gully,  made  her  look  up.  He  utter 
ed  a  hoarse  croak,  just  as  the  shade  of  his  black  pinions  fell 
upon  her  brow. 

"  A  bird  of  ill-omen  !"  she  thought,  languidly.  "  Portents 
cannot  terrify  me  now !  I  am  like  the  man  upon  the  wheel, 
to  whom  has  been  mercifully  dealt  the  coup  de  grace  as  the 
first  blow!" 

Awhile  later,  she  did  not  trouble  herself  to  think  or  care 
how  long  afterwards,  there  arrived  another  interruption  to 
the  sluggish  current  of  ideas.  This  was  the  tramp  of  a  horse's 
hoofs,  breaking  the  dry  sticks,  and  rustling  the  dead  leaves 
that  strewed  the  ground  under  the  trees. 

"  It  will  be  time  enough  to  move,  or  take  flight,  when  I 
am  seen,"  was  her  reflection ;  and  her  indolence  or  listless- 
ness  prompted  her  to  the  wisest  plan  for  avoiding  discovery. 

The  rider  was  forcing  his  way  through  the  undergrowth, 
there  being  not  even  a  bridle-path  in  that  part  of  the  forest. 
It  could  not  be  the  hunter,  whose  gun  she  had  heard,  for  the 
Belleview  lands  were  posted,  and  no  sportsman  in  the  neigh 
borhood  was  so  reckless  or  intrepid  as  to  trespass  upon  a 
domain  guarded  by  the  law  and  a  master  like  the  proprietor 
of  this  plantation.  It  must  be  Colonel  Floyd  himself  or  his 
colored  overseer,  or,  possibly,  some  other  negro  belonging 
to  the  estate,  taking  a  near  cut  to  the  house  from  the  main 
road.  Yet  this  would  be  an  unusual  procedure.  In  spiritless 
curiosity,  she  leaned  slightly  to  one  side,  wherfe  a  gap  in  the 
bushes  promised  a  sight  of  the  equestrian.  It  was  but  a 
glimpse,  and  an  imperfect  one,  which  she  obtained,  the  head 
and  neck  of  the  horse  and  the  upper  part  of  the  rider's  body 
only  being  visible  above  the  high  bank.  The  animal  stepped 
proudly,  and  manifested  some  symptoms  of  restiveness,  cur 
vetting  in  such  a  style  as  to  elicit  a  sharp  reprimand  from 
the  man  who  bestrode  him- 


398 


/    "  Go  on,  you  fool !"  he  said,  angrily. 

It  seemed  that  a  prick  of  the  spur  or  a  cut  from  a  whip 
followed,  for  the  mettled  creature  gave  a  forward  spring  and 
a  neigh  of  pain  or  viciousness.  The  human  brute  was 
Booker,  Colonel  Floyd's  confidential  agent.  He  was  look 
ing  right  ahead,  and  was,  moreover,  too  busy  with  his  ill- 
mannered  steed  to  notice  her.  She  was  glad  of  this,  for  his 
intolerable  surveillance,  and  reports  based  upon  it,  were  not 
confined  to  the  cases  of  his  fellow-servants,  as  Mrs.  Floyd, 
his  nominal  mistress,  had  occasionally  learned  to  her  sorrow, 
after  having  covertly  transgressed  some  of  the  by-laws  her 
lord  had  seen  fit,  in  his  sovereign  pleasure,  to  enact  for  the 
government  of  the  household.  Helen  disliked  the  man  with 
a  heartiness  she  took  no  pains  to  dissemble,  and,  crafty  as  he 
was,  he  had  contrived  to  express  to  her,  at  seasonable  op 
portunities,  his  reciprocation  of  the  antipathy.  It  was  very 
fortunate  that  he  had  not  descried  her,  hiding  like  a  lost  or 
fugitive  thing  in  that  out-of-the-way  spot,  where  no  other 
lady  of  the  family  or  region  would  ever  think  of  coming. 
Her  guardian  would  otherwise  have  been  supplied  with  a 
subject  for  sneering  ridicule  which  he  would  have  improved 
to  the  utmost  advantage,  and  whenever  she  least  desired  its 
introduction.  She  waited,  therefore,  where  she  was,  until 
there  was  no  longer  any  danger  of  encountering  the  spy  in 
his  forest-beat,  or  of  falling  in  with  one  she  cared  still  less 
to  face,  Colonel  Floyd.  Like  hunter  and  hound,  they  were 
seldom  far  apart  in  their  business  rounds,  by  day  or  by 
night. 

Stiff  and  chill,  from  having  sat  for  such  a  length  of  time 
upon  the  ground,  she  arose  with  difficulty,  climbed  the  pre 
cipitous  side  of  the  ravine ;  listened  for  a  moment,  to  make 
sure  that  the  way  was  clear,  and  set  out  for  home.  When 
free  of  the  woods,  she  was  surprised  to  see  that  the  sun  had 
passed  the  meridian.  Mrs.  Floyd,  like  Miss  Ruth,  had  or- 


399 


dered  an  early  dinner,  and  Helen  was  not  so  careless  of  what 
gossiping  tongues  might  say,  as  wilfully  to  provoke  the 
hubbub  of  inquiries  and  teasing  observations  to  which  she 
would  be  subjected,  should  she  be  missing  from  the  table 
and  the  house  when  the  rest  were  summoned  to  that  repast. 

She  found  Gabriel  at  the  spring,  leisurely  filling  a  pail 
with  a  gourd. 

"  Is  dinner  nearly  ready  ?"  she  asked. 

He  jumped  up,  letting  go  the  gourd,  and  it  splashed  back 
into  the  spring. 

" Oh,  is  dat  you,  Miss  Helen?     How  you  skeered  me !" 

She  repeated  her  question. 

"No,  ma'am,  not  as  I  knows  on;  leastways, marster  ain't 
come  home,  nohow !" 

He  raised  the  pail  to  his  head  in  a  mighty  hurry,  and 
began  his  journey  up  the  acclivity  towards  the  house. 

"Has  anybody  called  to  see  me  since  I  went  out?" 
Helen  quickened  her  pace  to  overtake  him. 

"  No,  ma'am,"  walking  yet  faster. 

"And  no  letter  or  message  sent  that  you  have  heard 
of?" 

"  None  as  I've  heerd  on,  ma'am !"  puffing  onwards,  the 
water  dashing  in  great  streams  from  the  brimming  vessel, 
down  upon  his  shoulders  and  sooty  physiognomy. 

"  There  is  no  need  of  such  haste,  Gabriel !"  said  Helen, 
smiling,  in  spite  of  her  heavy  heart,  at  this  ostentatious  celerity 
in  one  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  laziest  fellow  on 
the  place.  "  I  may  not  have  another  opportunity  of  speak 
ing  with  you  alone." 

Gabriel  was  almost  running  now,  but  she  kept  up  with 
him. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  how  sorry  poor  Sally  is  for  her  un* 
kindness  to  you  this  morning,  and  how  much  I  blame  her 
for  it.  She  is  disposed  to  be  hasty,  but  she  is  a  good-hearted 


400 


girl,  and  likes  you.  I  do  not  want  you  to  bear  a  grudge 
against  her  or  me  when  we  are  gone.  You  have  done  me 
many  friendly  turns,  for  which  I  shall  always  be  thankful, 
and  if  at  any  time  I  can  be  of  service  to  you,  you  must  not 
be  afraid  to  apply  to  me.  Oh !  Gabriel !  stop !  I  am  out 
of  breath!" 

Thus  adjured,  the  hurrying  Aquarius  stood  still  in  his 
tracks ;  but,  instead  of  facing  her  in  respectful  attention,  he 
made  a  feint  at  digging  out  his  eyes  with  his  wet 
knuckles,  and  burst  out  crying. 

"  Why,  my  boy !  what  ails  you  ?"  inquired  the  young 
lady,  in  amazement.  "Are  you  sorry  that  I  am  going 
away.?" 

"  No-o-o,  ma-a-a-m !" 

"  Indeed !  I  had  hoped  that  you  were  !"  returned  Helen, 
laughingly.  "  What,  then,  is  the  matter  ?" 

"  I  don't  mean  I  ain't  sorry  !     Boo-hoo  !" 

Rivulets  of  salt  water  mixed  themselves  with  the  fresh 
upon  his  shining  cheeks. 

"  You  scoundrel !  what  are  you  fooling  there  about  ?" 
roared  a  voice  from  the  houseyard,  now  only  some  twenty 
feet  distant. 

"  My  gracious !  if  thar  ain't  marster !"  exclaimed  the 
frightened  boy,  and  he  resumed  his  labored  flight  along  the 
path,  breathless  under  his  burden,  and  palpitating  with  fear. 

He  was  not  disappointed  in  the  reception  he  met.  Colo 
nel  Floyd  waited  for  him  at  the  gate ;  bestowed  a  curse  and 
several  blows  of  his  riding-whip  upon  him  as  he  passed 
through ;  then  glowered  at  his  wife's  niece,  as  if  anathema 
tizing  the  accident  of  sex  that  prevented  him  from  saluting 
her  in  like  manner. 

"  So,  my  young  lady,  this  is  the  company  you  select  upon 
your  wedding-day  !"  he  snarled.  "  I  hope  his  conversation 
has  edified  you !" 


401 


Without  deigning  a  reply,  she  trod  past  him  with  her 
queen-like,  elastic  step  ;  not  hurriedly,  but  as  if  she  had  not 
seen  or  heard  him. 

"  You  still  expect  your  gallant  to-night,  do  you  ?"  he  fol 
lowed  her  to  say. 

"  Are  you  speaking  to  me,  or  to  Gabriel,  Colonel  Floyd  ?" 
she  interrogated,  casting  a  side  ray  of  supreme  disdain  at 
him. 

His  complexion  had  a  purplish  flush ;  his  eyes  a  wild,  un 
settled  glare  ;  his  articulation  was  thick  and  tremulous. 

"  He  has  been  drinking !"  thought  his  ward,  in  disgust. 
"  I  may  steel  myself  for  any  amount  of  insult." 

"  I  am  talking  to  you !  You  are  hoping  to  welcome  your 
devoted  in  season  for  the  ceremony,  are  you  ?" 

"  If  you  mean  Mr.  Lay,  I  expect  him,  certainly !"  walk 
ing  on. 

"  He  was  in  no  haste  to  procure  his  license,"  her  tormen 
tor  continued,  still  at  her  heels.  "  I  waited  for  him  a  good 
hour  and  a  half." 

"  You  will  oblige  me,  Colonel  Floyd,  by  never  opening 
your  lips  to  me  again  with  respect  to  thje  matter  officiously 
brought  forward  by  you  last  night !"  returned  Helen,  con 
fronting  him  courageously,  and  speaking  with  authority. 
"  I  wish  you  to  understand  distinctly,  now  and  forever,  that 
there  is  a  complete  understanding  between  Mr.  Lay  and 
myself,  upon  this  and  every  other  subject.  Your  interfe 
rence  is  impertinent  and  unwelcome.  I  trust  that  I  have 
made  my  meaning  sufficiently  intelligible.  Mr.  Lay  is  com 
petent  to  the  management  of  his  own  affairs  and  mine  also." 

She  went  into  the  house,  without  staying  to  witness  the 
effect  of  her  declaration  of  independence. 

Virginia  Shore  assailed  her  in  the  lower  hall. 

"Helen  Gardner!  you  strange,  mysterious,  provoking 
girl !  where  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  and  every  thing 


402 


else  that  is  reasonable,  have  you  been  traipsing  to  ?  Here 
is  the  day  two-thirds  gone,  and  not  an  individual  thing 
done.  And  don't  you  think  ?  something  or  somebody  upset 
Lily's  elegant  orange-tree  last  night,  and  snapped  ever  so 
many  of  the  finest  branches ;  so  we  girls  have  been  busy 
gathering  the  flowers  from  them,  and  putting  them  in 
water  ;  and  isn't  it  a  mercy  they  were  so  little  withered,  and 
are  reviving  beautifully ;  and  we  find  there  are  enough  to 
distribute  among  all  seven  bouquets,  unless  you  are  bent 
upon  having  yours  composed  altogether  of  orange-blossoms, 
which  isn't  in  the  least  necessary,  it  seems  to  me,  for  there 
are  white  rosebuds,  and  candy-tuft,  and  feather-few,  and  a 
lovely  camelia,  if  you  must  have  all  white  flowers,  as  I  sup 
pose  you  will,  and  geraniums  and  arbor-vit88  for  greens; 
then,  too,  I  am  certain  that  Mr.  Lay  will  send  your  bouquet 
from  Greenfield  ;  he  hinted  something  of  the  kind  to  me, — 
and,  would  you  believe  it  ?  there's  Lily  gone  to  bed  with  a 
bad  sick  headache — she  always  picks  the  most  inconvenient 
season  to  have  them !  and  won't  let  a  soul  of  us  come  near 
her  room,  and  Mrs.  Floyd  is  afraid  she  won't  be  able  to 
be  down  to-night  ^  says  she  has  fever  and  all  that ;  and  in 
that  case,  what  will  you  do  for  a  first  bridesmaid?  Dear 
me !  what  unlucky  things  do  happen  at  weddings  some 
times  !" 

This  breathless  string  of  talk  was  rattled  out  while  pursu 
ing  Helen  up-stairs  to  the  chamber  of  the  latter,  where  Miss 
Shore  threw  herself  into  a  chair  and  declared  that  she 
"fagged  out— half-dead,  in  fact !" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  Lily  is  sick  !"  was  Helen's  reply 
while  Sally  divested  her  of  her  cloak  and  walking-shoes. 
"  She  appeared  quite  well  at  breakfast-time,  I  thought.  I 
am  afraid  that  she  has  over-exerted  herself." 

"  Between  you  and  me,  she  has  fretted  herself  sick — if  sh 
is  sick — about  the  accident  in  the  green-house — if  it  was  ai 


L1JU.»» 

was^ 

•piy, 

ioes. 


403 


accident !"  said  Virginia,  knowingly.    "  You  never  saw  such 

a  look  as  went  over  her  face  when  she  heard  of  it.     I  found 

it  out  just  after  you  took  such  very  cool  French  leave  of  us. 

I  was  hunting  high  and  low  for  you,  and  peeped  into  the 

green-house,  among  other  places,  and  there  lay  the  stand, 

pot  and  all,  upon  the  floor !     So  I  tore  off  up-stairs  to  tell 

j  the  news.     I  really  thought  that  Lily  was  going  to  strike 

I  me,  at  first!     She  grew  paler  than  a  corpse,  and  her  eyes 

•  blazed  like  lightning,  I  can  tell  you !    She  caught  her  breath, 

like   one    strangling,  when  I  tried  to  pacify  her  by  saying 

that  no  doubt  the  mischief  was  done  unintentionally,  in  the 

dark,  by  a  dog,  or  one  of  the  servants. 

"  '  No !'  she  said,  in  a  sort  of  choked  whisper ;  '  I  know  all 
about  it !  It  was  not  an  accident !  I  will  be  revenged  for 
that  piece  of  spite,  if  I  die  for  it !' 

"  '  Why,  Lily,'  I  said,  '  how  unkind  and  unreasonable !' 
But  she  would  not  listen — only  took  herself  off  to  her  room 
and  bed,  and  there  she  has  been  ever  since !  Who  would 
Delieve  that  she  could  be  so  peppery  a  little  vixen  when  she 
s  once  aroused  ?" 

Helen  thought  sadly  and  deeply  for  several  moments  upon 
what  she  had  heard.  In  the  pressure  of  anxieties  personally 
so  much  more  momentous,  the  damage  done  her  cousin's  pet 
shrub  had  entirely  escaped  her  mind,  until  it  was  recalled 
i>y  Virginia's  narrative.  If  Lily  were  indeed  so  distressed 
it  the  disaster  as  her  volatile  friend  represented,  she  might 
be  conciliated  by  a  truthful  statement  of  the  manner  in 
svhich  the  misadventure  occurred,  and  Helen's  regret  at 
aaving  been  innocently  the  cause  of  it.  As  a  preliminary 
step,  she  despatched  Sally  to  Lily's  room  to  inquire  how  her 
leadache  was,  and  request  the  privilege  of  an  audience  for 
ler  mistress. 

The  tiring-woman  returned  in  high  dudgeon. 
{    "  The  door  is  locked  on  the  inside,  Miss  Helen,  and  when 


404 


I  knocked,  that  impudent  Sylvy  opened  it  a  little  ways,  and 
peeped  through  the  crack,  and  had  the  assurance  to  tell  me 
that  Miss  Lily  had  just  fallen  asleep,  and  mustn't  be  waked 
on  no  account.  Then  she  shut  too  the  door  again,  and  I 
heard  her  with  my  own  blessed  ears  speak  to  Miss  Lily 
kinder  easy-like,  and  Miss  Lily  answer  her.  Asleep — ha? 
Humph!" 

"  There !  that  will  do !"  Helen  arrested  her  indignant 
volubility,  and  congratulated  herself  that  Virginia  had  flitted 
off  to  some  other  part  of  the  house  before  this  item  could  be 
added  to  her  budget  of  scandal. 

She  did  not  censure  Lily  for  averting  an  eclaircissement 
that  would  be  productive  of  embarrassment  to  them  both ; 
and,  moreover,  it  would  be  of  no  avail  now.  Her  destiny, 
and,  so  far  as  a  strange  fatality  had  intertwined  Lily's  with 
it,  hers,  also,  were  no  longer  in  her  hands.  Robert's  laconic, 
but  significant  message,  and  his  non-appearance,  had  settled 
that  matter. 

The  afternoon  wore  away  all  too  rapidly  to  the  idle,  taci 
turn  bride,  as  to  the  fussy,  excited  bridesmaids,  and  another 
starlight  evening,  as  cloudless  and  colder  than  yesterday's, 
came  on.  The  marriage  service  was  to  be  recited  at  eight 
o'clock,  which,  in  the  accommodating  phraseology  and  ac 
cording  to  the  pliant  customs  of  that  region,  meant  any  time 
from  half-past  eight  to  ten.  The  more  unpunctual  a  bridal 
procession  contrived  to  be,  the  more  aristocratic  were  the 
performances  esteemed.  Nevertheless,  at  six  o'clock  Helen 
cleared  her  apartment  of  the  chattering,  officious  sisterhood, 
who  clamored  for  the  honor  of  assisting  at  her  toilette,  re 
jecting  their  overtures  kindly,  yet  peremptorily;  fastened 
the  door  upon  the  last  of  the  reluctant  exiles,  who  was,  of 
course,  Virginia  Shore,  and  sat  herself  down  before  the  mir 
ror  to  have  her  hair  dressed  by  Sally's  skilful  fingers.  The 
maid's  •  manipulations  upon  the  luxuriant  locks  were  con- 


405 


ducted  silently.  If  her  heart  had  not  been  too  full  for  use 
less  speech,  a  glance  at  the  grave,  settled  features,  so  young 
in  outline  and  color,  so  old  in  expression,  which  were  re 
flected  in  the  glass,  would  have  sealed  her  mouth.  She 
comprehended,  in  some  dim  and  imperfect  fashion,  that  her 
mistress  did  not  go  to  her  bridal  as  most  other  women  she 
had  seen  arrayed  for  their  nuptials  had  done ;  that  there  was 
no  tremulous  joy,  no  excess  of  happiness,  in  the  suppressed 
sighs  that,  ever  and  anon,  heaved  her  breast ;  no  delicious 
dreaming  in  the  thoughtful  eyes,  that  seemed  to  study  the 
untried  Future. 

The  glossy  hair  was  wound  smoothly  around  the  classic 
head,  braided  and  looped  at  the  back,  and  Sally  was  obliged 
to  speak. 

"  You  will  not  have  the  flowers  put  in  just  yet,  will  you, 
Miss  Helen  ?  They  will  droop  and  wither  before  you  are 
ready  to  go  down." 

Helen  aroused  herself  and  glanced  at  the  white  buds  with 
their  graceful  group  of  leaves,  simply  beautiful,  in  spite  of 
Virginia's  abuse.  They  awaited  her  pleasure  in  a  small  vase 
upon  the  dressing-table. 

"They  will!  you  are  right.  Perhaps  I  may  not  wear 
them,  after  all.  We  will  attend  to  that  by  and  by." 

"  The  young  ladies  all  seemed  to  admire  the  pearls  most," 
suggested  Sally,  timidly.  "  And  don't  you  think,  Miss  Helen, 
that  Mars'  Aleck—" 

Helen  raised  her  hand  with  a  frown.  "  Not  a  word  more, 
Sally !  When  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  I  shall  ask  other 
people's  advice,  not  before." 

Further  debate  was  prevented  by  a  knock  at  the  door. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?"  said  Sally,  snappishly,  unlocking 
it,  and,  in  unthinking  imitation  of  her  favorite  detestation, 
Sylvia,  opening  it  far  enough  to  allow  the  tip  of  her  nose  to 
be  seen  by  the  person  without. 


406 


The  reply  was  in  the  voice  of  an  under  housemaid,  whom 
the  brisk  Sally  was  wont  to  denominate  a  "stupid,  no- 
account  body,  who  went  through  the  world  with  her  eyes 
and  ears  shut." 

"  Mr.  Lay  down  sta'rs.  Want  to  see  Miss  Helen,  d'rectly, 
if  she  can  come  down.  He  won't  keep  her  more'n  a  minute, 
he  say.  He  in  de  office." 

"  The  office !  what  did  you  show  him  in  there  for,  you 
goose  ?  It's  dark  as  pitch,  and  cold  as  Christmas,  besides 
being  dirty  as  a  pig-sty!" 

"  Marster  made  me  light  a  fire  dar,  to-day,  and  he's  been 
a-settin'  by  it,  constant,  from  dinner  to  supper-time,"  drawled 
the  woman,  "  and  Mr.  Lay,  he  asked  Gabriel  to  take  him 
somewhar'  whar'  he  could  see  Miss  Helen  by  sheself.  Ga 
briel  he  took  him  in  de  office,  and  sont  me  for  to  let  Miss 
Helen  know — " 

" Isn't  your  master  in  there  now?" 

"  N"o — he  went  away  somewhar',  'pon  horseback — he  an' 
Uncle  Booker,  nigh  'pon  half  an  hour  ago.  Dey  ain't  got 
home  yet." 

While  this  colloquy  was  going  on,  Helen  had  thrown  off 
her  white  wrapper,  and,  with  the  utmost  haste  her  shaking 
fingers  permitted  her  to  use,  put  on,  in  its  stead,  a  crimson 
dressing-gown — part  of  her  bridal  outfit — which  had  been 
hung  over  a  chair  near  by. 

"Let  me  pass !"  she  said,  trying  to  knot  the  massive  cord 
around  her  waist  as  she  spoke. 

"  There's  no  hurry,  dear  Miss  Helen  (you  be  gone,  Judy) ! 
there's  not  the  least  hurry  in  the  world,  my  dear  young  mis 
tress  !"  reiterated  Sally,  soothingly,  taking  hold  of  the  silken 
cable,  and  tying  it  herself.  "  Mars'  Robert  knows  you've 
got  to  dress,  and  he's  one  of  the  though tfullest  men  that  ever 
was  born.  It's  likely  he  wants  to  ask  some  question  about 
the  ring,  or  the  glove,  or  some  sech  little  thing,  and  he 


407 


shows  his  sense  by  not  trusting  his  message  to  any  of  them 
harum-scarum  young  ladies — for,  if  I  may  make  so  free  as  to 
speak  my  mind  for  once,  I  never  see  a  wilder  set.  Here's 
your  handkerchief;  and  now  you  are  all  ready,  and  pretty 
as  a  pictur,  and  I'll  be  bound  Mars'  Robert  will  tell  you  so. 
I  shouldn't  wonder  if  he  begged  you  to  be  married  in  that 
dress.  I'll  go  with  you  to  light  you  through  the  dark 
entry." 

Encouraged  by  this  homely  and  cheering  strain  of  reas 
surance,  Helen  went  quickly  down  the  stairway,  and  through 
the  dining-room,  encountering  only  servants  on  the  way,  to 
the  "  dark  entry,"  which  was  the  narrow  passage  connecting 
the  last-mentioned  apartment  with  the  office.  The  attached 
maid  stood  midway  between  the  two  rooms,  holding  her 
candle  above  her  head,  until  her  mistress,  having  hesitated 
for  an  instant  upon  the  threshold  of  the  farther,  to  gather 
breath  or  resolution,  turned  the  bolt  of  the  door,  and  disap 
peared  from  the  loving  eyes  watching  her. 

There  was  a  handful  of  smouldering  coals  and  a  smoking 
log  or  two  in  the  fireplace.  A  solitary  candle  was  upon  the 
mantel,  but  its  yellow  flame  gave  light  enough  to  enable 
Helen  to  recognize  the  person  who  advanced  to  meet  her. 

It  was  not  Robert,  but  Aleck  Lay ! 


408 


CHAPTER    X. 

"ALECK!" 

"Helen!" 

In  the  agitation  of  the  moment  they  forgot  the  more  for 
mal  style  of  address  they  had  employed  towards  each  other 
of  late.  Their  hands  were  joined,  too,  in  a  clasp  altogether 
different  from  the  cold,  passive  touch  they  were  used  to  ex 
change  at  their  infrequent  meetings.  When  Helen  would 
have  withdrawn  hers  she  found  it  held  fast,  nor  was  it  re 
leased  after  Aleck  had  led  her  to  a  chair,  and  placed  himself 
beside  her.  Her  gaze  of  wondering  confusion  was  answered 
by  one  so  intense,  so  eloquent  of  love  and  compassion,  that 
her  heart  thrilled,  while  she  trembled  with  apprehension 
and  suspense. 

"  My  poor  girl !  I  am  the  bearer  of  sad  news  to  you." 

"  Does  it  concern  your  brother  !"  There  was  not  a  par 
ticle  of  color  in  her  cheek,  and  her  eyes  dilated,  but  she 
could  still  articulate  the  inquiry.  "  Is  he  ill  ?  Is  he 
dead?" 

"  Heaven  forgive  me  for  saying  it !  but  I  could  wish  that 
he  had  died  before  dishonoring  'himself  so  vilely!"  ex 
claimed  Aleck,  passionately.  "  Helen !  he  has  perjured 
himself — brought  indelible  disgrace  upon  his  own  head — 
upon  his  family — worst  of  all — dragged  down  shame  and 
misery  upon  you  /" 

"  No !  no  !"  The  girl's  haughty  spirit  sprang  to  its  arms. 
"  Not  shame !  no  mortal  can  do  that  while  I  retain  my 
self-respect !  As  to  misery — better  so — a  million  times 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 


409 


better,  than  if  he  had  suspended  his  action  for  a  few  days  or 
months !  Now — let  me  hear  all !" 

"  Can  you  bear  it !"  he  asked,  doubtfully,  looking  in  un 
spoken  admiration  at  the  noble  face,  tintless  yet,  but  pure 
and  serene  as  a  marble  image  of  Peace. 

"  Yes !  unless  the  reality  far  exceeds  my  imagination,  and 
I  do  not  think  that  it  can." 

"  Robert  left  home  this  morning  early,  shortly  after  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  which  was  brought  to  him  by  one  of  Col 
onel  Floyd's  servants — " 

"  Gabriel !  Yes,  I  know !"  she  assented.  "  It  was  from 
me !" 

"  Indeed  !  I  thought  I  recognized  your  cousin  Lily's 
handwriting  in  the  superscription." 

"  You  were  mistaken  !     I  sent  it." 

Aleck  went  on. 

"  He  ordered  his  horse  at  half-past  nine,  that  he  might 
keep  an  appointment  at  ten.  I  suspected  that  it  was  in 
obedience  to  a  summons  from  the  writer  of  the  letter,  both 
from  his  behavior,  and  the  circumstance  that  he  had  not 
alluded  to  the  engagement  until  after  Gabriel's  arrival.  I 
was  confirmed  in  my  surmise  by  a  brief  conversation  we 
held  just  at  parting.  He  confessed  that  his  expedition  was 
not  one  that  I  would  sanction ;  said  he  could  not  retreat 
from  it  with  honor  ;  entreated  me  to  be  charitable  in  my 
judgment  of  him,  and  hinted  at  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  mystery  at  some  future  day.  From  that  hour  to  this 
he  has  not  showed  himself  at  home — but  when  I  reached 
Greenfield,  at  five  o'clock,  having  spent  the  day  at  Maple 
.  Hill,  this  letter  was  handed  to  me  by  one  of  my  own  ser 
vants,  who  had  met  Robert  in  the  road  about  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon." 

She  took  it  and  attempted  to  read,  but  the  characters 
were  irregular  and  the  lines  blotted.  The  sheet  had  ap- 
18 


410 


parently  been  written  upon  in  the  utmost  haste  or  agita 
tion,  and  folded  while  the  ink  was  yet  wet.  Aleck  brought 
the  candle  and  held  it  behind  her  shoulder  while  she  de 
ciphered  it. 

"Aleck — old  boy  !  you  will  never  let  me  call  you  brother 
again  after  you  have  read  this,  but  it  can't  be  helped  !  You 
have  done  your  duty  towards  me,  and  the  hardest  struggle 
I  have  had  in  making  up  my  mind  was  to  conquer  my  fear 
of  your  displeasure.  My  resolution  is  taken !  It  was 
nailed  fast  to  the  mast  by  the  perusal  of  the  enclosed,  which 
you  saw  delivered  to  me  this  morning.  The  last  feather 
breaks  the  camel's  back,  and  my  feather  was  not  a  light 
one,  as  you  will  see.  You  will  agree  with  me — or  ought  to 
— when  you  have  studied  this  specimen  of  feminine  com 
position — in  the  opinion  that  she  who  could  write  thus  on 
the  morning  of  her  marriage-day  was  never  designed  by  the 
Maker  of  matches  to  be  my  wife — never  desired  to  be  ! 
She  says,  in  effect :  '  Be  free  if  you  long  for  freedom !  Be 
happy  with  another  if  you  love  her  better  than  you  do  me 
— and  I  am  resigned — father  relieved,  if  the  truth  must  be 
told !' 

"  I  take  her  at  her  word.  The  direction  of  my  flight  I 
cannot  reveal  at  present,  for  obvious  reasons.  There  are 
hot-brained  fellows — Harvey  Floyd,  for  example — who 
would  not  scruple  to  chase  me  down,  and  pistol  me  for  the 
slight  offered  the  bride — that-is-not-to-be.  I  am  not  certain 
that  you  would  not  undertake  the  job  yourself — you  have 
such  Roman  notions  of  honor.  I  may  say  to  you  confiden 
tially,  however,  that  I  am  not  without  strong  hopes  that 
my  journey  will  not  be  performed  alone ;  that,  at  no  remote 
stage  of  it,  I  shall  be  joined  by  a  companion  fairer  and 
dearer  to  me  than  all  the  universe  beside.  I  commit  to  you 
the  awkward  task  of  breaking  to  Miss  Gardner  and  her 


411 


family  the  intelligence  of  this  trifling  alteration  in  the  pro 
gramme  of  the  play  for  this  evening.  Perhaps  the  easiest  and 
safest  way  for  you  to  accomplish  this  disagreeable  but  neces 
sary  business  will  be  to  forward  her  letter  with  this  to  Colonel 
Floyd.  He  is  the  most  proper  person  to  manage  the  affair. 
Shun  an  interview  with  him  if  you  can.  He  has  a  high 
sense  of  what  is  due  himself,  and  all  of  his  blood.  I  should 
be  sorry  to  have  you  embroiled  in  a  quarrel  with  him  on 
my  account. 

"  The  *  daring  and  self-possession'  upon  which  Miss 
Gardner  plumes  herself  will  have  abundant  scope  for  dis 
play  when  the  guests  are  convened  to-night.  I  am  not 
racked  by  fears  lest  her  heart  should  sustain  any  serious 
fracture.  Her  pride  may  bleed  a  little,  but  depletion  there 
will  do  her  moral  system  good.  My  respects  to  her,  and 
best  wishes  for  her  welfare  and  happiness.  May  I  trouble 
you  to  send  to  Bock's  Tavern  for  my  horse  ?  I  shall  have 
him  left  there  until  called  for.  If  all  goes  well,  you  shall 
hear  from  me  again  before  long.  Good-by !  Love  to  Aunt 
Kuth.  I  hope  her  cake  will  not  spoil  for  the  want  of 
mouths  to  eat  it,  although  I  suppose  the  second  day's  feast 
must  be  postponed. 

"  Believe  me,  ever  (whether  you  will  allow  it  or  no  !) 

"  Your  loving  brother, 
"  ROBERT  C.  LAY." 

"  Can  it  be  possible  !"  Helen  let  fall  the  letter  as  though 
it  had  defiled  her  fingers,  and  sat  transfixed ;  the  deep  dye 
of  offended  delicacy,  just  anger  and  astonishment  at  its  con 
tents,  and  the  ungenerous  animus  of  the  writer,  suffusing 
neck  and  temples.  "  Cruel !  unjust !  This  insult,  at  least, 
he  might  have  spared  me  !" 

"  You  are  only  too  lenient  to  him,"  said  Aleck,  in  stern 
wrath.  "  Like  yourself,  I  could  not  have  credited  the  pos- 


COLONEL  FLOYDS  WAJRDS. 

sibility  of  this  baseness  without  the  evidence  furnished  by 
that  infamous  communication.  Yet  I  have  seen  very  much 
that  I  considered  reprehensible  in  his  intercourse  with  Lily 
Calvert ;  have  warned  him,  once  and  again,  of  the  evil  which 
might  result  from  the  intimacy.  He  had  always  a  ready 
excuse  or  evasion  wherewith  to  ward  off  my  attack — and 
I  believed  him !  He  was  wickedly  weak — she,  subtle — I, 
blind!  This  is  the  end!" 

"  It  is  1"  Helen  arose,  erect  and  calm.  "  I  thank  you  for 
the  gentleness — the  true  brotherly  kindness  with  which  you 
have  discharged  a  trust  that  could  not  but  be  abhorrent  to 
you.  I  am  especially  grateful  that  you  did  not  accept  the 
alternative  of  transferring  the  unpleasant  duty  to  Colonel 
Floyd." 

"  I  did  not  entertain  the  suggestion  for  an  instant.  Here 
is  your  letter.  You  notice  that  he — Robert,  I  mean — says 
that  it  was  sent  for  my  perusal.  I  need  not  assure  you  that 
I  have  not  read  a  line  of  it." 

"  I  wish  you  had !"  she  said,  impulsively — then,  checking 
herself,  a  new  flood  of  crimson  bathed  her  face.  She  had 
recollected  the  confession  embodied  in  the  earlier  portion 
of  it. 

"That  is" — she  resumed,  more  composedly — "I  would 
like  to  have  you  read  certain  parts.  You  would  then  see 
how  faithfully  I  have  striven  to  be  guiltless  in  this  matter ; 
whatever  may  be  my  faults,  and  they  are  many,  I  am  not 
habitually  insincere.  Will  you  oblige  me  ?" 

She  proffered  the  open  sheet,  designating  the  top  of  the 
second  page  as  the  place  where  he  should  begin. 

"  I  require  no  testimony  beyond  what  I  already  have  to 
convince  me  that  your  conduct  in  this  lamentable  affair  has 
been  irreproachable,"  replied  Aleck,  repelling  the  offer  by  a 
gesture. 

"  But  I  would  have  you  acquit  me  intelligently.     When 


413 


the  tale  is  trumpeted  abroad — as  it  must  be" — her  lips  were 
whiter  in  saying  this — "  as  it  must  be,  very  soon,  it  will  be 
a  great  satisfaction,  the  best  comfort  I  can  have,  to  know 
that  there  is  one  who,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  case, 
from  beginning  to  end,  yet  pronounces  that  I  have  tried, 
and  tried  hard,  to  do  my  duty  ;  that  I  would  have  shielded 
Robert  from  reproach  at  the  same  time  that  I  secured  his 
happiness  by  a  union  with  the  woman  he  loved — (for  I  was 
sure  that  he  did  love  Lily !) — have  spared  him  the 
trouble  of  this  flight,  and  myself  the  ignominy  of  being 
publicly  rejected!"  She  turned  her  head  aside,  too 
proud  to  let  him  see  how  keen  was  the  smart  of  the  last 
thought,  and  still  extended  the  letter  in  mute  appeal. 
Aleck  unclosed  his  lips  to  speak,  then,  changing  his  mind, 
took  the  paper  with  a  bow  of  submission  to  her  require 
ment. 

"Robert!  I  charge  you  by  every  principle  of  truth, 
honor,  and  manliness,  to  answer  me  one  question !" 

This  was  the  heading  of  the  paragraph  to  which  she 
pointed,  and  he  read  the  letter  through,  from  that  adjura 
tion  to  the  close ;  with  what  sensations  of  pain,  love,  pity, 
and  marvel,  his  countenance,  varied  and  marked  as  were 
the  expressions  that  succeeded  one  another  upon  it,  but 
feebly  indicated. 

"And  this  generosity  he  spurned!  this  angelic  candor, 
this  noble  self-renunciation  he  could  despise!  could  speak 
slightingly  of  conduct  that  should  have  moved  him  to  wor 
ship!"  broke  forth  Aleck,  impetuously.  "Helen!  I  cannot 
ask  you  to  pardon  him.  The  man  who  could  sin  thus 
grossly  against  the  love  and  forbearance  you  have  exhibited 
towards  him,  merits  your  scorn  and  the  reprobation  of  the 
world !" 

"Hush !  hush !  It  is  not  the  act,  but  his  manner  of  free 
ing  himself  from  the  distasteful  bonds,  that  I  deplore.  As 


414 


he  says,  I  offered  him  his  freedom,  and  he  took  me  at  my 
word.  Only" — the  childlike,  troubled  look  that  he  had 
seen  before,  when  she  alluded  to  the  public  scandal  men 
acing  her,  came  back — •"  will  it  be  asking  too  great  a  favor 
of  yourself  and  your  aunt,  if  I  tell  you  that  it  will  be  an 
inestimable  help  to  me  to  have  you  remain  here  this  even 
ing,  and  show  that  his  fr|ends  are  still  mine?  that  they, 
having  known  me  from  my  childhood,  do  not  cast  me  off 
as  an  unworthy  creature,  whose  heartlessness  has  forfeited 
their  confidence  ?  For  you  must  recollect  that  the  people 
who  were  invited  to  the — the  wedding,  will  come ;  that 
there  is  not  time  to  send  word  to  a  single  one  of  them. 
The  invitations  cannot  be  countermanded,  and  I  must  see 
them !  the  story  must  be  told !  He  quotes  correctly,  you 
observe,  when  he  alludes  to  my  boast  of  '  daring  and  self- 
possession.'  Had  the  event  been  what  I  proposed,  and  for 
a  time  expected,  I  think  that  he  would  have  found  these 
sufficient  for  his  purpose  and  mine.  As  it  is,  the  trial  will 
be  far  greater!" 

She  faltered. 

"Helen!" 

She  did  not  repulse  him  when  he  took  her  hand  again. 
In  this  dark  hour  of  mortification  and  perplexity,  she  had 
no  other  adviser ;  no  other  friend  or  comforter ;  and  his 
tenderness  of  sympathy  was  inexpressibly  sweet. 

"Before  I  answer  your  question,  let  me  entreat  your  in 
dulgence  while  I  unfold  my  plan  of  action ;  that  which  I 
conceived  and  matured  while  coming  to  you  to-night.  It  is  a 
kindred  idea  to  that  which  I  find  sketched  in  your  letter, 
recommended  by  you  for  another's  adoption.  The  coinci 
dence  is  an  encouragement  to  me  to  proceed.  Will  you 
bear  with  me  if  it  offends  you?  You  will  not  shrink  from 
me  in  horror  and  1'oathing?" 

"  Certainly  not !" 


COLONEL    FLOYD'S    WARDS.  415 

She  gazed  at  him  in  unsuspecting  wonderment.  The 
earnestness  of  his  imploring  tone ;  the  anxiety  with  which 
he  hung  upon  her  look  and  reply,  were  m^re  of  a  mystery 
than  his  words.  Seeing  that  he  hesitated  to  go  on,  she 
added  gently,  almost  affectionately,  "  Whatever  may  be  my 
opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  adopting  and  acting  upon 
this  unknown  '  plan,'  I  should  be  unjust  and  unkind  were  I 
to  resent  your  goodness  in  presenting  it.  I  have  known 
you  too  well  and  too  long  to  impute  to  you  unworthy  mo 
tives.  You  could  not  propose  any  thing  that  would  involve 
the  sacrifice  of  truth  or  honor,  however  distasteful  its  terms 
might  be  to  me." 

"Ah!  there  is  the  fear!"  He  groaned  in  bowing  his 
head  upon  his  hands. 

She  laid  one  of  hers  on  his  arm. 

"  Aleck !  will  you  not  be  frank  with  me  ?  Is  this  a  time 
for  mistaken  delicacy — false  scruples  ?  This  should  be  an 
honest  hour  with  us  both.  Will  you  not  tell  me  what  it  is 
that  you  desire  to  say  ?  It  is  your  old  friend  and  play 
fellow,  Helen,  who  asks  this  of  you  ?" 

"  I  will  be  a  man  !  will  brave  every  thing !"  He  started 
from  his  dejected  attitude.  "At  the  risk  of  debasing  my 
self  in  your  eyes  to  the  level  of  a  selfish,  unfeeling  monster, 
who  would  take  advantage  of  your  distress  to  win  his  own 
ends,  I  will  speak !  Helen  !  I  have  loved  you  all  my  life ! — 
loved  you  more  than  I  ever  have  done  any  thing  else  on 
earth !  I  thought  I  had  made  you  understand  the  nature 
and  aim  of  this  affection  before  I  went  abroad.  Fervent  as 
was  my  devotion,  I  had  yet  the  manliness  and  justice  not  to 
bind  you  by  a  formal  pledge.  While  absent,  I  dared  to 
think  and  dream  of  you  as  my  own — mine  only  ; — to  antici 
pate  a  future  spent  with  you  as  a  fair  and  probable  prospect. 
I  returned  to  find  you  betrothed  to  my  brother.  What  I 
suffered  ;  what  I  have  resigned ;  what  concealed  under  what 


416 


must  have  seemed  to  you  a  heartless  and  repulsive  exterior, 
I  have  not  strength  or  time  to  tell  you  now.  I  do  not  offer 
my  love — unabated  and  unconquerable,  after  all  my  bat- 
tlings  with  it — as  a  solace  for  the  pain  inflicted  by  the  de 
sertion  of  your  betrothed.  But  I  do  tender  you  my  name 
and  my  hand  as  a  shield  against  calumny  and  insult ;  ask 
the  privilege  of  protecting  you  in  this  hour  of  isolation  and 
perplexity.  I  exact  nothing  in  return  save  that  which  you 
have  but  this  moment  informed  me  is  already  mine,  your 
friendship  and  confidence.  If  you  will  marry  me  to-night 
as  my  brother's  substitute,  I  pledge  you  my  solemn  word 
that  no  unreasonable  or  ungenerous  demands  on  my  part 
shall  ever  cause  you  to  regret  the  act." 

He  delivered  this  extraordinary  proposal  in  a  hard,  almost 
fiercely  abrupt  fashion  ;  the  result  of  overpowering  emotion 
he  tried  ineffectually  to  suppress  into  the  collected,  moderate 
show  of  earnestness  he  had  resolved  on.  He  did  not  look 
at  her  as  he  brought  the  speech  to  a  close.  Would  she  flee 
his  presence  as  from  a  moral  leper  ?  Would  she  strike  him 
dead  with  imperial  scorn  ? 

For  a  whole  minute  there  was  a  profound  stillness  through 
out  the  room,  except  for  the  quick  fluttering  pants  from  the 
figure  at  his  side.  Had  his  audacity  taken  from  her  the 
power  of  utterance?  Then  she  spoke — very  softly,  very 
musically  to  his  excited  senses,  that  had  shrunk  in  dread  of 
accents  so  different. 

"  I  thought  that  you  were  betrothed  to  a  lady  in  Ger 
many.  They — your  aunt  and  brother — told  me  so — last 
summer !" 

Aleck  made  an  impatient  movement. 

"  That  absurd  fiction  again  !  I  never  loved  her — never 
thought  of  betrothal  to  any  woman  besides  yourself;  have 
never  breathed  a  word  of  affection  to  any  other,  at  home  or 
abroad.  The  letter  from  which  my  aunt  deduced  her  pre- 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  417 

posterous  conclusion  was,  as  anybody  but  herself  could 
have  seen,  a  foolish,  barefaced  hoax,  from  beginning  to  end. 
I  have  told  her  this  since  my  return,  and  undeceived  Robert 
also.  Could  I  be  so  base  as  to  offer  you  a  hand  upon  which 
another  had  alien ?" 

Still  he  did  not  look  towards  her.  If  he  had,  he  must 
have  been  at  a  loss  how  to  interpret  the  warmer  blush  that 
slowly  mantled  her  cheek ;  the  fervid,  yet  tender  sparkle  of 
the  eye. 

She  reopened  the  letter  to  Robert.  He  heard  the  rustle, 
in  wondering  impatience.  What  had  they  to  do  with  that 
part  of  the  question,  now  ? 

"  I  cannot  give  you  a  reply  until  you  have  read  the  first 
page  of  this." 

She  could  hardly  have  enjoined  a  more  irksome  task  ;  but 
he  obeyed  her  behest  instantly  and  without  a  remonstrance. 
His  mind  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  easily  receptive  of 
hope,  or  he  might  have  drawn  all  the  encouragement  the 
most  ardent  suitor  could  have  desired  from  the  cautiously- 
worded  confession  ;  would  not  have  looked  or  spoken  with 
such  mournful  firmness,  as  he  ceased  reading. 

"  I  do  not  love  you  more  hopelessly  now  than  I  have 
done  from  the  moment  I  heard  of  your  engagement  to  my 
brother.  You  say  in  this  letter  that  a  union  with  him 
whom  you  first  loved  is  forever  impossible  ;  that  you  have 
only  half  a  heart  to  bestow  upon  any  man  who  shall  here 
after  seek  your  favor.  If  I  am  personally  disagreeable  to 
you  ;  if  my  presence  will  annoy  or  displease  you,  instead  of 
being  a  comfort,  I  withdraw  my  suit.  Otherwise — unless, 
indeed,  I  can  bring  about  a  reunion  between  yourself  and 
your  early  love — " 

"You  do  not  ask  who  it  was?" 

"  Nor  ever  shall !     It  is  your  secret — yours  alone  !" 

"  But  what  if  I  insist  upon  telling  you  ?" 
18* 


418 


He  gazed  upon  her  now,  but  in  unspeakable  amaze.  What 
was  the  meaning  of  the  playful,  yet  shy  intonation,  that  im 
pressed  even  his  infidel  perceptions ;  incredulous  to  what 
ever  seemed  to  bode  happiness  and  success  to  himself? 
Stranger  still,  she  smiled  in  his  bewildered  face,  a  smile 
radiant  as  heaven's  own  light. 

"  We  have  both  '  played  too  long  with  edge  tools,'  dear 
Aleck?  Suppose  we  abandon  the  dangerous  trifling,  and 
take  to  truth-telling  for  the  remainder  of  our  lives  !  I  will 
set  the  example,  by  revealing  to  you  the  '  dear,  fatal  name'  of 
him  who  long  ago  gained  my  whole,  undivided  heart ;  whose 
supposed  desertion  drove  me  to  ihe  mad,  wicked  step  of 
engaging  myself  to  another.  Shall  I  ?" 

"  If  you  will !" 

He  articulated  the  monosyllables  with  difficulty  in  the 
tumult  that  possessed  his  soul. 

"  Bow  your  tall  head,  then.     I  cannot  say  it  aloud." 

Still  mystified,  doubting,  fearing — any  thing  but  hoping, 
he  bent  his  head  to  her  lips.  They  breathed  one  word  in 
his  ear. 

Had  Colonel  Floyd,  or  his  devoted  servitor  and  imitator, 
Booker,  chanced  to  pass  through  this  retired  portion  of  the 
grounds  just  then,  upon  his  nightly  patrol,  and  glanced  in 
to  the  low  window,  he  would  have  beheld  an  unexpected  and 
highly  interesting  scene;  one  which  might  possibly  have 
awakened  sensations  the  reverse  of  delightful  in  the  bosom 
of  the  unseen  spy. 

But  it  happened  instead,  that  this  select  and  exemplary 
body  of  police  was,  at  that  important  instant,  engaged  about 
other  business,  the  nature  of  which  shall  be  briefly  explained 
in  the  next  chapter. 


419 


CHAPTER    XI. 

SALLY  "  had  the  fidgets" — a  description  of  fit  that  became 
more  violent  with  every  added  minute  of  her  mistress's  ab 
sence.  In  the  adjacent  chamber,  dedicated  to  the  toilette 
services  of  three  of  the  six  bridesmaids,  she  could  hear  the 
confused  clamor  of  busy  tongues,  the  patter  of  slippered 
feet,  and  frequent  outbursts  of  such  mutual  admiration  as 
girls  are  prone  to  indulge  to  their  own  and  one  another's 
delectation,  all  denoting  the  forward  march  of  preparations 
for  the  great  event  of  the  evening.  Bells  were  rung  from 
divers  other  apartments,  upon  first,  second,  and  third  sto 
ries  ;  there  was  continual  rushing  up  and  down  stairs,  and 
through  entries,  of  valets,  butlers,  and  ladies'  maids,  each  on 
the  run,  and  all  equally  regardless  of  the  danger  of  collisions; 
already  several  carriages  had  rolled  around  the  drive  in 
front  of  the  mansion,  and  discharged  their  freight  of  unne 
cessarily  punctual  revellers,  mostly  relatives  and  intimate 
friends  of  the  family,  who  liked  to  preface  the  public  pro 
ceedings  by  a  little  social  talk.  Yet  she,  in  whose  honor  all 
this  commotion  was  raised,  the  star  actress  of  the  promised 
performance,  without  whom  the  play  would,  in  fact,  be  a 
remediless  wreck,  and  a  disgrace  to  all  concerned  in  its  an 
nouncement  and  management,  was  still  dallying  away  the 
fleeting,  priceless  moments  in  love-talk,  that  could  be  as  well 
if  not  better  attended  to  after  the  ceremony. 

"There  is  a  season  for  every  thing!"  muttered  the  tiring- 
woman,  distractedly,  shaking  out  the  satin  robe  and  lace 


420 


veil  for  the  twentieth  time.  u  And  this  isn't  the  time  for  no 
such  boy-and-giii  play  as  they're  carrying  on !" 

Sally  was  in  love  herself,  and,  as  a  consequence,  extremely 
lenient  to  the  delinquencies  of  others  similarly  situated,  if 
said  derelictions  had  Cupid's  warrant  for  their  apology;  but 
there  was  a  point  beyond  which  delay  became  inexcusable 
negligence,  and  this  she  considered,  and,  it  must  be  owned, 
with  just  provocation,  that  the  bride  was  fast  nearing.  She 
went  into  the  hall  repeatedly,  and  listened  over  the  balus 
trades  for  the  returning  feet  of  her  ^charge — the  increasing 
tumult  of  arrival  and  reception  below,  meanwhile,  aggrava 
ting  her  inquietude  to  the  verge  of  frenzy ;  once  she  stole 
down-stairs,  and  into  the  dark  passage  conducting  to  the 
office-door — went  near  enough  to  that  uninviting  room,  now 
consecrated  as  the  chosen  retreat  of  Love,  to  hear  the  low 
murmur  of  earnest  voices ;  finally,  she  resolved  to  sit  down 
in  desperate  resignation  by  the  fire  in  the  bridal  chamber, 
and  "  not  budge  one  single  inch  again  until  Miss  Helen  saw 
fit  to  show  herself — no  !  not  if  she  had  to  wait  there  until 
midnight!" 

Her  waiting,  albeit  it  was  the  reverse  of  "  patient,"  had 
its  reward  shortly  after  she  had  taken  this  sensible  resolu 
tion.  A  light  footstep  her  ears  were  quick  to  recognize 
skimmed  the  floor  of  the  hall,  stopped  at  the  door,  and  the 
long-looked  for  personage  appeared. 

"  Sally,  my  good  child !  I  have  kept  you  waiting  a  tedious 
time,  I  suppose,  but  there  is  no  haste,  none  whatever !" 

"  It's  a  quarter  past  seven !"  responded  Sally,  not  too 
amiably. 

Generally  the  most  docile  and  respectful  of  handmaidens, 
she  yet  availed  herself  occasionally  of  the  privilege,  earned, 
by  years  of  faithful  service,  to  lecture  her  young  mistress. 

"  I  know  that,  but  the — ceremony  will  not  take  place  for 
an  hour  or  more." 


421 

She  had  sunk  into  the  chair  before  the  mirror,  and  spoke 
breathlessly.  This  might  have  been  the  effect  of  her  haste 
in  climbing  the  stairs,  and  her  rapid  flight  through  the  pas 
sages,  to  avoid  being  seen  abroad  at  this  unseasonable  hour; 
but  the  sparkling  eyes  and  glowing  complexion  could  hard 
ly  have  been  induced  by  these  influences.  Resting  her  chin 
in  her  palm,  and  her,  elbow  upon  the  dressing-table,  she 
remained  for  some  minutes,  apparently  lost  in  revery,  fond, 
yet  agitating.  Her  lip  trembled  while  it  smiled ;  the  fire 
in  the  eye  shone  through  a  soft  haze ; — even  to  Sally's  un 
tutored  sight,  her  aspect  was  refined  and  elevated  by  the 
emotions  that  rapt  her  in  silent  happiness.  Then,  a  change 
which  was  even  more  lovely  grew  upon  her  ; — a  chastened 
gravity,  that  mellowed  every  feature ;  an  upward  glance 
told  that  thought  was  rising  to  yet  more  exalted  themes  of 
contemplation. 

She  turned  kindly  to  her  attendant. 

"  Sally !  I  should  like  to  be  alone  for  a  little  while.  Do 
not  be  uneasy.  I  will  be  ready  in  season." 

"  Just  as  you  say,  ma'am." 

Unwilling  to  submit  to  further  procrastination  of  the 
momentous  business  yet  to  be  performed,  but  awed  into 
implicit  obedience  of  action  by  her  mistress's  look  and 
manner,  the  maid  withdrew. 

Helen's  chamber  was  upon  the  second  floor  of  the  main 
building,  which  formed  the  central  pile  of  the  large  and 
irregularly  constructed  old  homestead  ;  and  access  was  had 
to  this,  not  only  by  the  wide  front  staircase,  but  also  by  a 
steeper  winding  flight,  leading  down  to  the  back  door. 
Sally  was  near  the  head  of  these,  on  the  alert  for  the  sum 
mons  to  her  post  of  duty,  when  her  attention  was  dis 
tracted  by  the  rumble  of  wheels.  This  was  now  a  frequent, 
almost  an  incessant  sound,  but  the  vehicle  to  which  these 
belonged  drove  around  the  right  wing  of  the  house,  where 


422  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

there  was  no  carriageway  over  the  lawn,  and  stopped  at 
the  rear  porch.  The  listener  stretched  her  head  over  the 
railing,  with  the  curiosity  characteristic  of  her  class,  to  ob 
tain  a  view  of  the  back  entrance.  What  or  who  was  to  be 
introduced  into  the  mansion  at  such  a  time,  and  in  this  unu 
sual  way? 

Colonel  Floyd  pushed  the  door  open  from  without.  He 
was  arrayed  in  overcoat  and  hat,  and  carried  in  one  hand 
his  inevitable  riding-whip.  The  other  grasped,  and,  it 
would  seem,  not  very  tenderly,  the  arm  of  a  lady,  muffled 
in  a  large  cloak  and  drooping  hood. 

"  Good  Fathers,  Miss  Lily !"  ejaculated  the  astonished 
Sally,  under  her  breath.  "  I  thought  she  was  sick  in  bed !" 

Behind  the  supposed  invalid  cowered  the  confidential 
abigail,  Sylvia.  She  bore  a  bandbox  in  her  arms,  and  her 
mulatto  complexion  was  the  hue  of  ashes  with  fear.  The 
group  was  completed  by  her  husband,  the  family  coachman, 
who  brought  in  a  small  travelling-trunk,  apparently  from 
the  conveyance  standing  without. 

"  Up !  that  way !"  The  colonel  thrust  Lily  upon  the  lower 
stair.  "  And  you  had  better  rig  yourself  in  your  finery  in 
double-quick  time,  or  I  will  be  along  to  hurry  your  smart 
waiting-maid,  here !"  He  lent  Sylvia  a  cut  across  the  shoul 
ders  with  his  whip,  by  way  of  further  admonition.  "  I  flat 
ter  myself  that  I  have  spoilt  your  fun  for  this  night;  and 
the  next  time  you  undertake  an  elopement,  look  out  that  I 
am  not  at  your  heels.  Leave  that  trunk  there,  you  scoun 
drel!"  pointing  to  a  corner  of  the  entry.  "I  take  it  for 
granted  that  there  is  no  bridesmaid  gear  in  that,  and  she 
has  changed  her  mind  about  playing  bride,  for  the  present." 

Lily  had  now  gained  the  top  of  the  steps,  leaning  heavily 
upon  her  raaid,  and  Sally  had  retreated  to  a  dark  corner,  not 
too  distant  to  prevent  her  from  seeing  and  hearing  all  that 
transpired.  Finding  that  her  uncle  had  not  ascended  be- 


423 


hind  her,  the  poor  fugitive  stopped,  and  fell  back,  rather 
than  rested,  against  the  wall,  as  one  half  dead  with  fatigue 
or  fright. 

Sylvia  urged  her,  in  a  frightened  whisper,  to  go  on  to  her 
chamber. 

"I  cannot  yet!  I  am  so  faint!"  sobbed  the  trembling 
girl,  pressing  her  hand  to  her  heart.  "  What  will  become 
of  me  ?  Oh !  what  shall  we  do  ?" 

Low  as  were  her  accents,  the  sound  reached  the  savage 
warder  below. 

"  Are  you  there  still  ?"  He  came  part  of  the  way  up  to 
catch  sight  of  the  laggards.  "  If  you  want  more  of  my  help, 
you  have  only  to  say  so,  and  it  is  at  your  service." 

The  terrified  women  hurried  down  a  side  passage  in  the 
direction  of  Lily's  room,  and  at  that  instant  Sally  heard  her 
mistress's  bell,  and  made  good  her  escape. 

Helen's  pre-occupation  of  mind  prevented  her  from  remark 
ing  the  queer  looks  and  behavior  of  her  assistant.  Apart 
from  the  revolution  in  her  position  and  feelings,  there  was 
much  that  required  her  most  serious  meditation ;  an  impera 
tive  necessity  for  self-command,  and  ingenuity  of  speech  and 
conduct.  The  Court  House — the  universal  name  applied  to 
the  shire-town  of  each  county  in  the  Southern  States — was 
but  three  miles  from  Belleview,  and  the  county  clerk,  to 
whom  application  must  be  made  for  a  marriage  license,  resi 
ded  near  his  office  in  that  village.  There  would  be  no  diffi 
culty  in  obtaining  this,  both  the  parties  to  the  contract  being 
of  age ;  yet  Aleck  had  deemed  it  best  to  take  into  his  confi 
dence,  and  secure  as  his  companion  in  his  nocturnal  gallop, 
Harvey  Floyd,  a  second  cousin  of  the  colonel's,  and  distantly 
related  to  Helen  herself.  He  was  a  merry  rattle  of  a  fellow, 
kind-hearted  as  quick-witted,  and  was  to  have  officiated  as 
second  groomsman,  according  to  the  original  arrangement 
of  the  bridal  train. 


424 


This  gentleman,  on  being  summoned  from  his  dressing- 
room  to  receive  the  astounding  news  of  a  change  of  bride 
grooms,  "  supposed,"  when  the  shock  of  the  communication 
had  passed  off,  "  that  it  was  all  right — indeed,  it  was  a  capi 
tal  joke — the  boldest  and  cleverest  thing  he  had  ever  heard 
of — this  having  hoaxed  a  whole  community,  the  wedding 
party  included — up  to  the  very  last  moment!  He  would 
relish  amazingly  carrying  out  the  matter  in  good  style.  A 
splendid  Christmas  trick !"  and  he  laughed  until  the  mouldy 
walls  of  the  office  threatened  to  come  down  about  his 
ears. 

This  was  after  Helen  had  left  the  two  young  men  to 
gether  ;  but  she  conjectured  that  his  co-operation  was 
obtained  without  much  difficulty,  from  the  fact  that  she 
heard  the  clatter  of  their  horses'  hoofs  down  the  road  in  less 
than  ten  minutes  from  her  time  of  parting  from  them. 
Harvey  was  to  ride  directly  back  to  Belle  view,  so  soon  as 
the  license  was  granted;  Aleck  would  return  by  way  of 
Greenfield,  and  bring  Miss  Ruth  with  him.  Let  them  use 
what  speed  and  diligence  they  might,  there  would  still  be  a 
delay  of  considerable  length  in  the  solemnization  of  the 
marriage,  and  this  it  was  Helen's  object  to  make  as  little 
noticeable  as  possible.  By  way  of"  beginning,  she  must  con 
fide  that  to  Sally  which  no  one  else — not  the  bridesmaids 
themselves — was  to  learn  until  the  final  moment.  She  was 
explicit,  but  brief,  in  her  narrative  to  the  petrified  tire 
woman.  She — Helen  Gardner — was  to  marry  Mr.  Alexan 
der  Lay,  and  not  his  brother,  as  was  commonly  supposed, 
but  the  secret  was  not  to  be  divulged  as  yet  to  any  other 
person.  Least  of  all  must  Colonel  Floyd,  or  any  member 
of  his  family,  receive  the  slightest  intimation  that  could  lead 
to  the  discovery  of  the  plot.  Certain  preparations  would 
detain  Mr.  Lay  for  an  hour,  perhaps  more,  beyond  the  time 
set  for  the  marriage,  and,  to  escape  unpleasant  comments 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  425 

upon  his  tardiness,  the  bride's  toilette  must  not  be  complete 
until  nearly  nine  o'clock. 

It  appeared  doubtful,  for  awhile,  whether  Sally  would 
ever  be  equal  to  the  functions  of  her  office, — so  staggered 
was  she  by  the  intelligence,  coming  as  it  did,  before  she 
had  entirely  rallied  from  the  effect  produced  by  the  dis 
covery  of  Lily's  escapade  and  capture.  Helen  laughed 
merrily  at  her  bewilderment — so  heartily,  that  Sally  smiled 
in  real  pleasure.. 

"  I  have  not  heard  you  give  a  laugh  like  that  in  ever  so 
many  months,  Miss  Helen.  It  does  my  heart  good  to  hear 
it ;  it  sounds  so  like  old  times !" 

"  I  have  not  been  so  happy  for  a  long  time,  Sally.  There 
have  been  painful  misunderstandings  that  are  now  cleared 
away,"  was  the  response,  sincere  and  simple. 

She  never  imparted  to  any  one  else  a  more  circumstantial 
account  of  the  dark  days  of  her  life,  and  the  sudden  burst 
of  sunshine  following  them. 

Below,  the  apartments  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the 
company  were  filling  fast ;  and  until  some  officious  individual 
had  the  bad  taste  to  discover,  and  was  guilty  of  the  ill 
behavior  of  promulgating  the  intelligence,  that  it  wanted  a 
quarter  of  nine  o'clock,  and  no  bridegroom  had  yet  arrived, 
every  thing  went  blithely  enough.  Colonel  Floyd  was  a 
conspicuous  figure  in  the  sight  of  every  one  that  entered. 
He  was  dressed  with  extreme  neatness  and  elegance,  and 
his  commanding  stature,  and  stately  grace  of  bearing,  re 
called  to  many  of  the  elder  guests  the  memory  of  his  most 
palmy  days,  when  no  other  resident  of  the  region  could  vie 
with  him  in  manly  beauty  and  deportment.  He  had 
deteriorated  since,  and,  by  his  evil  courses,  had  latterly  lost 
much  of  the  prestige  given  him  by  this  earh'er  reputation, 
and  his  family  rank ;  but,  to-night,  he  upheld  the  dignity 
of  the  Floyd  escutcheon  in  a  style  that  constrained  his 


426 

worst  enemies  to  admiration.  Mrs.  Floyd  was  a  cipher, 
according  to  custom  ;  but  she  did  her  best  to  receive  her 
friends  cordially  and  entertain  them  hospitably,  and  there 
were  few  who  were  so  destitute  of  right  feeling  as  to  be 
wanting  in  appreciation  of  her  motives. 

At  a  quarter  to  nine,  then,  an  unmannerly  buzz  went  his 
sing,  like  a  serpent,  through  the  crowd,  leaving  in  its  track 
dismayed  silence,  glances  of  alarmed  inquiry,  nods  and 
winks  of  malicious  meaning.  The  knowing  and  observant 
ones  began  to  notice  the  fluctuations  of  the  host's  florid 
complexion  from  purple  to  pallor  ;  that  his  face  was  lowering 
and  his  eye  gleamed  ominously  as  he  conferred  apart  with 
his  wife ;  and  that  she,  poor  soul,  looked  amazed  and  dis 
quieted,  and  could  not  prevent  her  regards  from  straying 
every  instant  to  the  door.  At  nine  o'clock,  without  any 
pretence  of  apology  or  show  of  concealment,  Colonel  Floyd 
left  the  apartment, — it  was  conjectured,  to  institute  oflicial 
inquiry  into  the  cause  of  the  mysterious  and  most  ungallant 
non-appearance  of  the  person  who  should  have  been  one  of 
the  earliest  upon  the  ground.  ISTo  sooner  was  this  plausible 
supposition  reached  by  a  majority  of  the  assembly  than 
there  was  a  general  and  palpable  effort  to  seem  lively  and 
unconcerned, — a  commendable  and  ostentatious  display  of 
ignorance  that  any  thing  was  wrong  which  deluded  no  one, 
failed  to  impose  upon  the  most  single  minded  creature 
there,  and  that  was  unquestionably  the  lady  of  the  house. 

Colonel  Floyd  crossed  the  hall  and  entered  a  small  cloak 
room,  occupied,  for  the  nonce,  by  four  very  stiff  and  uneasy 
gentlemen — the  groomsmen — who  awaited  the  signal  to 
join  their  fair  mates  and  take  up  the  line  of  wedding 
march. 

"  This  4s  a  very  strange  affair,  gentlemen !"  said  the  colo 
nel,  gravely ;  "  and  it  is  my  painful  duty  to  inquire  into  it, 
without  further  delay.  It  may  have  been  a  mistaken  deli- 


42T 


cacy  which  has  kept  me  silent  so  long.  Has  any  one  of  you 
seen  or  heard  from  Mr.  Lay  to-day?" 

Every  man  looked  at  his  fellow,  and  there  was  a  unani 
mous  shaking  of  heads. 

"  He  called  on  me  at  noon  yesterday,  and  engaged  to  meet 
me  at  the  clerk's  office  this  morning  at  eleven  o'clock,"  pur 
sued  the  colonel,  visibly  moved  by  some  powerful  emotion. 
"  This  engagement  he  saw  fit  to  neglect.  I  waited  for  him 
until  past  twelve,  and  since  my  presence  there  was  not  a  le 
gal  necessity,  obeyed  the  call  of  other  duties,  and  returned 
home.  Since  then — " 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  his  relative,  Har 
vey  Floyd. 

"  Well,  boys  !"  said  the  new  arrival,  gayly,  "  how  goes  it 
with  you  by  this  time  ?  Tired  of  waiting — hey  ?" 

"  They  may  well  be !"  returned  the  colonel,  indignantly. 
"  What  have  you  to  say,  Harvey,  respecting  this  very  dila 
tory  groom?  The  business  begins  to  look  very  black  to  us. 
He  is  a  particular  friend  of  yours,  I  believe.  Are  you  the 
bearer  of  his  excuses  ?" 

"  Well,  not  that   exactly,  sir,  but  I  can  answer  for  him 

that  he  will  be  here  pretty  soon,  sure  as  a  gun !"  thrusting 

!  his  hands  into  his  pockets  and   strolling  to  the   window, 

where  he  commenced  a  careless  whistle,  that  suddenly,  and 

;  without  apparent  cause,  exploded  into  a  laugh. 

All  were  startled,  several  shocked  by  the  sound. 

"  Beg  pardon,  colonel !  Excuse  me,  gentlemen,  bi?t  the 
truth  is,  you  four  look  so  like  pall-bearers  at  a  funeral,  and 
my  respected  cousin  there  so  like  chief  undertaker,  sexton, 
and  parson  combined,  that  I  cannot  keep  my  countenance. 
Haw,  haw !" 

He  dug  his  hands  down  deeper  into  his  pockets,  and 
stamped  about  the  room,  rolling  and  choking  with  merri 
ment. 


428 


"  There  are  some  subjects,  young  man,  that  are  not  to  be 
jested  upon !"  rejoined  the  colonel,  his  brow  blackening 
with  suppressed  wrath,  while  the  veins  in  his  temples  stood 
out  like  cords. 

"  No  offence  intended,  sir !"  Harvey  tried  manfully  to 
swallow  his  amusement.  "  Only,  when  a  man  goes  to  a 
wedding,  it  does  seem  ludicrous  to  see  every  one  else  behave 
as  if  it  were  a  funeral.  "  Actually,  a  stranger  would  feel  dis 
posed  to  look  for  crape  upon  the  left  arm  of  each  of  this  lu 
gubrious  quartette,  and  to  listen  for  your  official  pronuncia 
tion  of i  dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes.'  v 

"  When  you  can  express  yourself  in  a  manner  becoming 
your  position  as  a  member  of  the  respectable  family  so 
grossly  insulted  by  the  conduct  of  your  associate,  the  ex 
pected  bridegroom — expected,  rather  than  expectant,  it  ap 
pears — I  should  like  to  talk  with  you  upon  this  very  un 
pleasant  matter,"  said  the  colonel,  with  increasing  choler. 

He  walked  out  with  immense  stiffness.  The  door  opening 
upon  the  back  porch,  the  same  through  which  he  had  con 
ducted  Lily  upon  her  return  from  her  evening  jaunt,  stood 
ajar,  and  the  aperture  was  filled  by  a  dusky  figure. 

"  I  would  like  to  speak  to  you,  sir  !"  it  said,  in  a  guarded 
voice,  as  Colonel  Floyd  crossed  the  hall. 

The  master  started  as  if  the  word  were  a  bullet. 

"  What  is  it  ?"  he  asked,  hastily. 

Booker  retired  into  the  portico,  whither  the  colonel  fol 
lowed  him,  shutting  the  door  after  them. 

"The  moon  will  be  up  before  we  get  there,"  said  the 
man,  in  the  same  cautious  key.  "  It's  time  we  were  off." 

"  Had  we  not  better  wait  until  the  moon  does  rise  ?  It 
will  be  a  dark,  rough  walk,"  suggested  Colonel  Floyd, 
staring  upward  at  the  starry  heavens. 

His  manner  was  less  that  of  the  arbitrary  owner  than  the 
equal  of  the  one  he  addressed.  But  for  the  absurdity  of  the 


429 


idea,  one  might  have  imagined  that  there  lurked  in  his  accent 
a  certain  degree  of  respect — of  humility.  The  negro's  reply 
was  assuredly  positive  and  familiar,  such  as  few  white  men 
would  have  dared  to  employ  in  conversation  with  the  lord 
of  Belleview. 

"  So  much  the  better  !  We  don't  want  light  until  we  get 
to  the  woods.  If  you  are  seen  quitting  the  house  when  it's 
full  of  invited  company,  folks  will  wonder  at  it,  and  there's 
a  chance  of  our  being  followed.  Then,  the  ground 's  froze 
hard  as  a  rock,  and  the  path  is  a  rough  one,  as  you  say,  be 
sides  being  a  good  mile  and  a  half  long.  We  will  want 
every  minute  of  our  time.  If  I'd  had  my  way,  we  would 
have  been  off  an  hour  ago." 

"  That  could  not  be,  you  know."  Colonel  Floyd  mani 
fested  no  anger  at  the  imperative  language  of  his  inferior. 
"  It  was  necessary  that  I  should  show  myself  first  to  those 
people  in  the  parlors,  and  contrive  some  excuse  for  leaving 
them." 

"  That  may  be  so,  but  we  ought  to  be  off  now !"  repeated 
Booker,  doggedly.  "  There's  nothing  else  to  be  gained,  and 
much  may  be  lost  by  waiting." 

"  Are  you  sure  that  you  have  every  thing  ready  ?"  whis 
pered  the  master,  peering  over  his  shoulder  at  the  lighted 
windows,  blazing  all  along  the  rear  of  the  building. 

"  All's  right,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned !" 

"  Then  I  will  be  with  you  in  three  minutes  !" 

He  went  back  into  the  house,  and  stopped  in  the  hall  to 
collect  thoughts  or  courage  for  the  next  move.  His  face  was 
curiously  changed.  A  leaden  hue  had  come  over  it,  and  he 
had  to  clinch  his  teeth  to  hinder  them  from  chattering — 
probably  with  cold  or  nervousness,  for  no  living  man  had 
ever  seen  him  show  fear  or  presumed  to  accuse  him  of  cow 
ardice.  He  felt  the  alteration  in  his  looks,  for  he  stroked 
his  features  to  compose  them ;  while  his  hand  shook  from 


4:30  COLONEL   FLOYD'S    WAKDS. 

the  same  cause  that  had  induced  the  discomposure  he  would 
conceal.  First,  he  proceeded  to  the  dining-room,  unlocked 
the  sideboard,  and  helped  himself  to  a  glass  of  strong  brandy 
and  water  ;  waited  a  minute  to  ascertain  the  potency  of  the 
draught,  and  swallowed  a  second.  Then  he  again  sought 
the  presence  of  the  uneasy  groomsmen. 

There  was  a  glare  in  his  eye  that  looked  like  fierceness ; 
and  if  his  voice  were  slightly  husky,  and  not  so  steady  as 
usual,  it  was  attributed  to  the  same,  or  kindred  emotions, 
and  these  were  regarded  as  altogether  natural  and  com 
mendable  by  the  spectators,  or  by  four  out  of  the  five.  Har 
vey  may  have  had  his  own  ideas  upon  the  subject.  He,  of 
the  number,  seemed  least  concerned  by  the  announcement 
that  should,  in  consideration  of  his  relation  to  the  bride,  have 
affected  him  most. 

"  Gentlemen  !  you  will  oblige  me  by  making  yourselves 
at  home  in  my  house,  and,  so  far  as  lies  in  your  power,  allay 
ing  the  apprehensions  that  may  have  been  excited  in  the 
minds  of  others  by  Mr.  Lay's  extraordinary  and  utterly  in 
excusable  behavior.  For  myself,"  drawing  himself  up,  and 
speaking  hoarsely,  yet  dignifiedly,  "  I  shall  go  in  person  to 
seek  that  young  man — to  call  him  to  account  for  the  dastardly 
slight  put  upon  my  niece.  I  think  that  I  have  a  clue  which, 
if  rightly  used,  will  enable  me  to  ferret  out  the  truth." 

"  Better  stay  where  you  are,  colonel !"  interposed  Harvey, 
in  some  alarm ;  "  or,  if  it  is  necessary  to  make  inquiries,  let 
me  go  in  your  place.  Don't  be  precipitate  !  Things  may 
come  right  without  your  troubling  yourself.  Lay  is  an  hon 
orable  fellow,  and,  if  he  is  above  ground,  I  am  willing  to 
wager  my  head  that  he  will  furnish  in  good  season  a  solu 
tion,  and  a  satisfactory  one,  of  this  puzzle." 

"  Mr.  Floyd !"  The  colonel  wheeled  suddenly  upon  him. 
u  This  is  my  affair,  and  I  warn  you,  once  for  all,  that  I  will 
not  be  interfered  with  !  The  only  true  kindness  you  can  at 


t 


431 


present  do  your  cousin,  Miss  Gardner,  is  to  undertake  the 
painful  office  of  breaking  to  her,  as  gently  as  you  can,  the 
unexpected  news  of  Mr.  Lay's  disappearance." 
"  Shall  I  find  her  up-stairs,  sir  ?" 

Harvey  was  near  rupturing  a  blood-vessel  in  his  frantic 
attempt  to  repress  another  uproarious  fit  of  mirth. 
"  I  presume  that  she  has  not  yet  left  her  room." 
"  Then  I'll  run  right  up  !"  said  the  willing  bearer  of  the 
afflicting  intelligence. 

He  went  up  the  steps,  three  at  a  leap,  as  the  colonel  sol 
emnly  bowed  around  to  the  bewildered  quartette,  and  left 
the  house  by  the  back  door. 

It  was  Sally's  luck,  this  evening,  to  play  the  undesigning 
eaves-dropper.    While  Colonel  Floyd  and  Booker  held  their 
cautious  colloquy  upon  the  porch,  she  was  within  ear-shot 
of  most  that  was  said.     She  had  been  to  the  kitchen  upon 
some   trifling  errand,  and  was  on  her  way  back  to  Helen's 
room,  when  she  espied  Booker  peeping  in  at  the  hall  door, 
either  watching  or  waiting  for  some  one  within.     Sally  in 
stantly  crouched,  like  a  hare  upon  her  form,  and,  inch  by 
inch,  crept  under  the  portico  steps, — not  with  the  intention 
of  overhearing  what  might  follow,  but  to  keep  out  of  the 
plan's  sight,  and  to  avoid  the  chance  of  meeting  him.     She 
ated  and  feared  him,  not  without  sufficient  cause,  as  the 
eader  will  allow,  and  was  panic-stricken  by  the  thought 
hat  if  she  encountered  him  at  this  juncture  of  the  plot  con- 
ided  to  her  keeping,  he  might  drag  the  whole  truth  out  of 
ler.     She  believed  him  to  be  possessed  of  the  craft,  as  he 
vas  of  the  depravity,  of  the  great  adversary  of  mankind. 
)he  quaked  in  her  shoes  when  the  pair — master  and  man — 
itt  drawing  away  from  the  door  and  windows,  walked  di- 
ectly  above  her  head,  and  there  arranged  the  preliminaries 
f  their  expedition.     Some  words  were  lost ;  others  but  par- 
tally  comprehended ;  still,  she  made  out  the  drift  of  their 


432 


purpose,  and,  while  she  was  greatly  mystified  by  certain  ex 
pressions  which  occurred  in  the  dialogue,  she  blessed  the 
business,  whatever  it  was,  which  took  them  out  of  the  way 
at  the  moment  when  her  mistress  was  expecting  the  real 
groom. 

"  Before  you  get  back,  the  knot  will  be  tied  fast  and  hard, 
and  then  let's  see  you  break  it !"  she  chuckled. 

Not  audibly,  for  Booker  was  standing  upon  the  top  step, 
„  awaiting  his  accomplice's  return.  The  flight  was  not  a  tall 
one,  nor  was  her  position  comfortable  or  desirable,  bowed 
together  as  she  was,  and  not  daring  to  move  a  finger,  hardly 
venturing  to  draw  a  breath,  while  she  could  hear  the  creak 
of  Booker's  boots  as  he  shifted  his  weight  from  one  foot  to 
the  other,  on  the  very  plank  against  which  her  head  rested. 
Her  imprisonment  was  of  brief  duration  in  reality,  tedious 
though  it  seemed  to  her.  She  did  not  quit  her  covert  until 
the  clang  of  the  iron  heels  upon  the  flinty  spring-path  quite 
died  away ;  but  she  had  one  glimpse  of  the  patrolling  party, 
as  they  passed  through  the  broad  stream  of  light  pouring 
through  the  dining-room  window.  Colonel  Floyd  carried 
his  gun,  his  inseparable  companion  in  Jiis  nightly  rambles, 
and  Booker  also  bore  something,  she  could  not  determine 
what,  upon  his  shoulder. 

"  There  you  go !"  soliloquized  the  girl,  stretching  her  be 
numbed  limbs.  "  Two  as  great  vilyans  as  ever  breathed ! 
Hunting  runaways,  are  you?  You've  tracked  some  poor 
fellow  to  his  den,  and  mean  to  have  him  out,  live  or  dead ! 
'Tain't  the  first  job  you've  joined  hand-in-hand  in — but  you 
won't  go  unpunished  in  the  end,  or  the  Scripter  is  mistaken, 
which  ain't  likely.  Bless  the  Lord,  Lem's  hundreds  of  miles 
away,  anyhow !  So  you  won't  catch  him !  Now,  to  tell  Miss 
Helen  thai  the  cats  are  away— both  of 'em!" 


COLONEL    FLOYD S    WAJ2DS.  4:33 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SALLY  had  no  opportunity  for  the  proposed  communica 
tion.  Outside  the  door  of  the  bride's  chamber  stood  Helen, 
in  close  conversation  with  her  cousin,  Harvey  Floyd.  Both 
were  laughing ;  for  if  Harvey  attached  any  importance  to  the 
colonel's  threat  of  retribution  upon  the  sinning  Robert,  he 
kindly  and  discreetly  refrained  from  whispering  to  her  a 
syllable  relating  to  this  part  of  the  scene,  which  he  pre 
tended  to  describe  to  her  with  great  exactness  and  evi 
dent  enjoyment.  The  consultation  was  broken  off  by  the 
outburst,  from  the  adjoining  room,  of  a  figure  in  white 
robes. 

"  Helen  Gardner  !  why  aren't  you  in  hysterics,  or  swoon 
ing,  or  something  like  that — as  is  suitable  and  graceful  in 
the  circumstances  ?  I  should  be  terrified  into  convulsions, 
if  I  were  in  your  place.  An  hour  after  the  time  set  for  the 
ceremony,  and  not  a  word  from  the  bridegroom !  It's  a 
perfect  scandal — or,  else,  some  terrible  accident  has  hap 
pened — and  in  either  case,  you  ought  to  go  crazy !" 

"  I  have  just  brought  her  a  message  that  obviates  the 
necessity  of  parting  with  her  wits,"  replied  Harvey.  "The 
fortunate  man  is  now  on  his  way  to  happiness.  I  left  him 
only  half  an  hour  ago.  Aunt  Ruth's  newest  cap  was  not 
ready  in  season,  and  he  could  not,  as  a  dutiful  nephew, 
leave  her — while  she  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  wear 
ing  her  second  best  It  was  trimmed  with  green,  which 
she  said  was  an  unlucky  color  at  weddings.  There  were 
19 


434  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

twelve  yards  of  white  satin  ribbon  to  be  furbelowed  upon 
the  new  one,  and  the  last  bow  but  one  was  being  sewed  on 
when  I  came  away ;  so  they  cannot  be  far  behind  me.  You 
are  divine,  to-night,  Miss  Virginia!" 

"  Humbug  !"  with  a  smile  of  conscious  vanity.  "  You 
ought  to  see  Lily  now !  She  is  heavenly  !  So  pure-looking, 
so  ethereal,  so  exactly  like  a  snow-flake,  that  you  are  pos 
itively  afraid  that  she  will  melt  away  before  your  eyes — be 
exhaled  like  a  dew-drop  !" 

"  I  hope  she  won't  melt,  or  exhale,  while  I  am  looking ' 
at  her  !"  answered  the  saucy  groomsman.     "  Where  is  this 
same  snow-drift,  or  snow-drop,  or  whatever  you  call  her  ? 
I  would  like  to  take  a  parting  look  at  her  before  she  leaves 
this  world  for  good  and  all." 

"  In  there,  with  the  rest  of  them,"  nodding  backwards 
into  Helen's  room;  and  Harvey,  taking  the  hinted  in 
vitation,  walked  himself  into  the  midst  of  the  fair  and  flut 
tering  group. 

There  was  a  little  scream  of  affected  horror  and  surprise 
at  his  unceremonious  entry ;  then  the  girls  closed  in  upon 
him  on  every  side. 

"Mr.  Floyd  !  what  is  the  matter  down-stairs?" 

"  What  makes  you  gentlemen  so  tardy  ?  We're  tired  to 
death  waiting  !" 

"  Hasn't  Mr.  Lay  come  yet  ?  It's  shocking  !"  and  similar 
inquiries  pelted  his  ears — a  confusing  volley,  even  to  one  of 
his  consummate  impudence. 

"Ah1  right!  all  right!  He  will  be  here  shortly!"  he 
repeated,  over  and  over,  with  slight  variations,  until  the 
Babel  subsided  into  a  satisfied  hum. 

Lily  had  remained  aloof,  looking  on  with  sad  contempt, 
that  was  heightened  into  disdain  when  her  cousin  accosted 
her. 

"  Come,  Lil !  stand  out  into  the  light  and  let  me  see  you  ! 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WABDS.  435 

Miss  Virginia  likens  you  to  snow-flakes,  and  dew-drops,  and 
all  manner  of  other  beautiful  things." 

He  pulled  her  towards  him,  that  he  might  take  a  better 
view. 

"  Don't,  Harvey !  you  hurt  me !  Let  me  alone,  I  say !"  she 
cried,  sharply,  trying  to  wrest  her  hands  from  his. 

He  held  her  tight. 

"The  half  was  not  told  me,"  said  he,  in  mock  rever 
ence.  "  You  are  a  gem — a  star  of  the  first  lustre  and  sixth 
magnitude — but  not  snow!  There's  too  much  heat  for 
that !" 

If  Virginia's  simile  had  any  aptness,  this  external  fairness 
was  the  snowy  crust  veiling  a  volcanic  heart.  Lily's  great 
3yes  glittered  feverishly ;  her  skin  was  hot ;  her  lips  had  a 
scarlet  tinge. 

"  You  are  to  walk  with  me,  you  know,  Queen  Mab,"  con 
tinued  Harvey.  "  I  shall  watch  you  very  closely,  lest  you 
infold  a  pair  of  starry  wings  and  fly  away." 

"  I  know  no  such  thing !"  she  retorted,  peevishly,  and 
-larvey  perceived  his  blunder  when  he  recollected  that 
Meek  Lay,  as  first  groomsman,  was  the  attendant  assigned 
o  her. 

The  sound  of  an  arrival  below  relieved  him  from  the 
lecessity  of  fibbing  to  hide  his  lapsus  linguae. 

"  There  he  is  at  last !" 

He  dropped  the  struggling  hands  and  was  off  like  the 
vind.  Miss  Ruth  passed  him  on  the  stairs,  mounting  to 
he  dressing-room  under  the  pilotage  of  a  maid.  The  poor 
idy  looked  scared  and  flurried,  and  Harvey  laughed  to 
imself,  in  the  imagination  of  her  amazement  at  the  recent 
isclosure  made  to  her.  Aleck  was  in  the  hall,  handsome 
nd  self-possessed — a  smile  of  heart-felt  satisfaction  dispel- 
.ng  every  vestige  of  cynicism,  from  his  features. 

"All  goes  well!"  was  Harvey's  salutation,  "and  I  have 


431 


served  a  notice  upon  Chandler,  to  take  the  vacant  place  in 
the  train.  You  will  find  him  with  the  rest  of  the  fellows, 
in  the  room  over  there." 

"  Thank  you !" 

Aleck  preceded  him  to  the  apartment  designated,  and 
presented  himself  to  the  anxious  "  fellows." 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  been  unavoidably  detained,  gen 
tlemen — less  on  your  account,  however,  I  confess,  than  be 
cause  I  fear  my  delay  has  occasioned  discontent  to  the  ladies 
who  are  awaiting  you.  Every  thing  is  ready,  I  believe. 
Shall  we  go  up  and  make  our  peace,,  as  best  we  may  ?" 

"  Is  your  brother  here?"  questioned  one. 

"  My  brother  was  called  suddenly  from  home  this  fore 
noon,  and  has  not  returned  yet.  Fortunately,  his  presence 
is  not  indispensable,  however  much  we  may  desire  it." 

"Not  indispensable  !"  ejaculated  Tom  Shore.  "What  do 
you  mean  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  a  wedding  without  a 
bridegroom  ?  unless,  indeed,  you  act  as  his  proxy !"  he  sub 
joined,  with  a  half  laugh. 

"  I  shall  be  married  on  my  own  account — not  in  the  stead 
of  another,"  replied  Aleck,  coolly.  "  This  is  a  matter  which 
was  determined  upon  between  Miss  Gardner  and  myself, 
more  than  two  years  ago.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  test 
the  truth  of  my  assertion  by  an  appeal  to  the  lady  herself." 

He  led  the  way  to  the  floor  above,  and  the  others,  includ 
ing  the  "  dumfoundered"  Tom,  followed  in  his  wake. 

Helen  did  not  lift  her  eyes  at  their  approach,  but  the  bril 
liant  carmine  of  her  cheek  answered  the  fervent  pressure 
with  which  Aleck  laid  her  hand  within  his  arm.  Never 
were  voluble  girls  rendered  so  mute  by  astonishment  as  was 
the  knot  of  pretty  attendants.  Lily  clung  to  Harvey  for  sup 
port  ;  searched  his  face  in  such  agony  of  inquiry,  that  he  could 
not  help  whispering  an  explanatory  sentence  or  two. 

"  It's  all  right !     They  have  loved  one  another  for  years 


437 


and  years.  She  was  always  queer,  and  so  is  he.  The  en 
gagement  with  Robert  was  a  blind.  It's  the  best  joke  of 
the  season !" 

Honestly  he  believed  but  Ijalf  of  this  tale ;  but  he  was 
pledged  to  carry  the  matter  through,  and  he  would  do  it 
with  a  brazen  face,  if  not  with  a  stout  heart.  Lily  utterly 
discredited  this  account  of  the  sudden  reversal  of  precon 
certed  arrangements,  but  it  mattered  little  to  her  how  it  had 
come  about,  while  the  evidence  of  her  own  eyesight  showed 
her  Helen  Gardner  as  the  bride  of  Aleck,  and  not  Robert 
Lay.  Divers  editions  of  the  surprising  story  were  breathed 
by  the  other  gallants  to  their  respective  charges  during  the 
downward  march  of  the  procession ;  and  it  spoke  volumes 
for  the  self-command  or  aptitude  in  deception  of  the  femi 
nine  part  of  the  band,  that  when  they  were  drawn  up  in 
bridal  array,  confronting  the  crowd  of  gaping  and  aghast 
spectators,  none  of  them  betrayed  the  slightest  symptom  of 
curiosity  or  embarrassment ;  each  was  competent  to  the  oc 
casion. 

Mrs.  Floyd  uttered  an  exclamation  of  dismay  or  wonder 
as  the  clergyman,  in  obedience  to  a  word  from  Aleck,  and 
after  a  glance'  at  the  license  presented  by  Harvey,  began  the 
marriage  service.  He  paused  longer  than  was  needful  or 
customary  after  the  solemn  bidding  of  the  charge ;  bent  a 
igaze,  scrutinizing,  and  not  altogether  free  from  severity,  upon 
the  youthful  couple,  while  the  silence  throughout  the  room 
:became  oppressive. 

"  I  require  and  charge  you  both  (as  ye  will  answer  at  the 
dreadful  day  of  judgment,  when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
will  be  dislcosed),  that  if  either  of  you  know  any  impedi 
ment,  why  ye  may  not  be  lawfully  joined  together  in  matri^ 
mony,  ye  do  now  confess  it :  for  be  ye  well  assured,  that  if 
any  persons  are  joined  together  otherwise  than  as  GOD'S 
word  doth  allow,  their  marriage  is  not  lawful." 


4-38 


Aleck  met  the  penetrating  eyes  confidently — proudly, 
while  Helen  stood  firm  and  calm  beside  him.  The  cer 
emony  proceeded  ;  the  responses  were  made  promptly  and 
audibly,  and  Aleck's  voice  had  never  been  more  clear  and 
steady  than  in  articulating  the  vow : 

"  I,  Alexander,  take  thee,  Helen,  to  be  my  wedded  wife, 
to  have  and  to  hold  from  this  day  forward,  for  better  for 
worse ;  for  richer  for  poorer ;  in  sickness  and  in  health  ;  to 
love  and  to  cherish,  till  death  do  us  part,  according  to 
GOD'S  holy  ordinance ;  and  thereto  I  plight  thee  my  troth." 

It  was  done  !  and,  regaining  breath  and  speech  with  one 
simultaneous  effort,  the  assembly  surged  impetuously  tow 
ards  the  newly  wedded  pair.  Inquiries  more  pointed  than 
polite ;  banterings  of  all  descriptions,  gay,  gentle  and  ill- 
natured;  reproaches  that  were  meant  to  be  playful,  and 
yet  had  an  angry  tone  mingled  with  the  laugh ;  every 
variety  of  congratulation  was  heaped  upon  the  perpetrator 
of  the  daring  deed,  in  a  fashion  that  few  would  have  been 
able  to  bear.  But  they  were  blest  with  dauntless  spirits 
and  strong  nerves,  and  while  Helen  was  suffered  to  remain 
by  Aleck's  side  she  did  not  shrink,  and  he  was  doubly 
courageous. 

Poor,  poor  Miss  Ruth  I  She  slipped  fast  and  quietly  out 
of  the  press  after  kissing  her  "  children,"  and  heaving  one 
little  sob  upon  Helen's  shoulder,  and  betook  herself  to  the 
darkest  corner  of  the  conservatory,  where  she  had  her  cry 
out  in  a  comfortable  style.  She  alone,  beside  her  nephew 
and  his  wife,  knew  the  secret  of  Robert's  dishonorable  de 
fection,  and  the  consequent  denouement  between  the  real 
lovers ;  and  she  acquiesced  cordially  in  Aleck's  application 
of  the  good  old-fashioned  doctrines,  that  "  those  who  truly 
love  one  another  ought  to  marry,"  and  that  "  the  sooner  a 
false  step  is  corrected  the  better  ;"  yet  she  had  been  taken 
so  by  surprise ;  her  limited  range  of  ideas  and  conjectures 


439 


had  been  so  abruptly  enlarged ;  her  grief  at  Robert's  inex 
plicable  behavior  so  sincere ;  her  dread  of  compromising 
him  and  annoying  Aleck  and  his  bride  so  great,  that  it  was 
no  wonder  she  was,  to  use  her  own  language,  "fairly 
upset." 

Her  privacy  was  soon  invaded.  She  mopped  up  the 
streaming  tears  at  sight  of  a  white  dress  and  the  sound  of 
light,  hurried  footsteps.  * 

"  I  came  to  look  for  you,  Aunt  Ruth,"  said  Lily  Calvert, 
winding  her  arms  about  the  old  lady's  neck,  and  sinking  to 
her  knees  beside  her.  "  I  have  nobody  else  to  whom  I  can 
speak — and  speak  I  must,  or  my  brain  will  go  wild.  You 
will  never  repeat  what  I  say,  will  you  ?" 

"  Yes — yes — dear !"  murmured  Aunt  Ruth.  "  That  is, 
I  would  say,  '  No,'  my  love  !" 

"  You  know  every  thing,  do  you  not  ?  Robert  has  often 
told  me  that  he  kept  nothing  hidden  from  you.  You  must 
know  why  and  where  he  is  gone  ?" 

"  Yes !"  assented  Miss  Ruth,  distressfully. 

"  Don't  speak  so  sadly,  please !  You  wound  me  to  the 
quick.  I  had  looked  for  charitable  judgment  from  you. 
Indeed — indeed  he  could  not  help  it,  Aunt  Ruth!  You 
would  not  have  blamed  him  if  you  had  known  all  he  had  to 
bear — for  he  saw  that  Helen  did  not  love  him,  and — that  I 
did?" 

She  whispered  the  last  three  words,  and  buried  her  face 
in  the  listener's  lap. 

"Yes!" 

Despite  the  objurgations  Aleck  had,  in  his  aunt's  hearing, 
and  the  early  transports  of  his  indignation,  launched  against 
Lily's  coquetry  and  treachery,  the  charitable  spinster  could 
not  discard  all  tender  thoughts  of  the  child  she  had  loved 
from  the  sad  hour  of  her  birth.  Mrs.  Calvert  had  been  the 
friend  of  Miss  Massie's  girlhood,  and  for  her  sake  she  had 


MO 

first  learned  to  love  the  daughter.  To  her  Lily  was  always 
winsome  and  loving,  and  she  believed  in  her  still ;  sym 
pathized  in  the  emotions  whose  intensity  she  perceived 
without  fully  understanding.  Her  motherly  hand  softly 
patted  the  curly  head  as  she  thought  how  young  the 
weeper  was — how  tender  and  delicate — how  unfit  to  bear 
the  sorrow  that  pressed  out  those  great  choking  sobs. 

"All  may  come  rightp>dear,  if  you  love  one  another — " 

"If!"  Lily  reared  her  head  eagerly.  "I  have  seen  that 
he  did  love  me  this  long  while,  and  others  saw  it  too !  But 
this  morning  there  came  this  letter" — taking  one  from  her 
bosom — "  in  which  he  tells  me  how  dear  I  am,  and  begs  me 
to  meet  him  this  evening — to  go  with  him — to  become  his 
wife !  And  I  would  have  done  it — by  this  time  we 
would  have  been  together,  never  again  to  be  parted,  but 
for  my  cruel,  cruel  uncle !  How  he  guessed  my  intention  I 
cannot  imagine,  for  only  Simon  and  Sylvia  knew  of  it,  and 
they  would  never  betray  me — but  he  overtook  me  on  the 
road  and  forced  me  back.  I  can  never  forgive  him — 
never !"  Her  eyes  glowed,  and  her  fingers  clutched  the 
letter  tightly.  "  I  am  not  his  slave  !  I  want  you  to  write 
to  Robert,  Aunt  Ruth.  I  shall  be  watched  too  closely  for 
me  to  attempt  that.  Tell  him  why  I  failed  to  join  him.  I 
cannot  have  him  think  that  I  was  prevented  by  cowardice  or 
indifference-5-and  say,  moreover,  that  if  my  life  is  spared  I 
will  yet  escape  and  do  as  he  wishes,  in  defiance  of  my 
uncle's  threats." 

"Yes,"  said  Aunt  Ruth,  doubtfully;  "but,  Lily  dear, 
there  is  nothing  now  to  keep  him  away,  since  Aleck  and 
Helen  are  married.  Doesn't  it  seem  to  you  that  it  will  be 
more  proper  to  wait  until  he  comes  home,  and  let  things 
go  on  naturally  and  smoothly  ?  Then  again  I  don't  know 
where  to  direct  my  letter." 

"To  Washington!     He  writes  that  he  will  wait  there 


441 


for  tidings  of  me  should  I  fail  to  meet  him.  As  to  pro 
priety,  I  detest  the  word !"  cried  the  girl,  passionately.  "  If 
you  are  hindered  by  such  scruples,  I  will  steal  time  to-night 
to  write  to  him  myself.  Will  you  see  that  my  letter  is 
mailed?" 

"Yes!"  responded  Aunt  Ruth,  yet  more  slowly  and 
dubiously. 

The  equilibrium  of  her  ideas  was  too  effectually  destroyed 
by  the  strange  events  of  the  past  few  hours  for  her  to  offer 
any  decided  protest  against  becoming  Cupid's  postwoman. 
When  she  journeyed  homeward  at  midnight,  still  dazed 
and  wondering,  no  one  part  of  the  performances  she  had 
witnessed  was  more  unreal  to  her  than  the  fact  that  in  her 
pocket,  nestled  among  the  folds  of  her  immaculate  handker 
chief,  reposed  a  billet  whose  superscription,  hastily  scrawled 
in  a  fine  feminine  hand,  was,  "  Mr.  Robert  C.  Lay,  Washing 
ton,  D.  C." 

Harvey  Floyd  proved  himself  to  be  the  nonpareil  of 
kinsmen  and  groomsmen  on  that  trying  evening.  Having, 
as  an  indispensable  preliminary,  exorcised  his  conscience  by 
a  potent  adjuration  in  the  names  of  expediency  and  good 
nature,  he  gayly  assumed  the  role  of  master  of  ceremonies ; 
circulated  freely  among  the  curious  and  suspicious  guests, 
: joking,  laughing,  and  lying  as  he  moved;  "pooh-poohing" 
;  at  insinuations  of  unfair  play  towards  the  absent  brother ; 
i  declaring  that  he  had  been  the  confidant  of  ah1  three  of 
I  the  parties  concerned  in  this  "  capital  hoax"  ever  since  its 
inception ;  had  known  that  Robert  was  looking  after  Aleck's 
interests,  while  people  believed  that  he  was  pleading  his 
!  own  cause  ;  had  often  laughed  with  him  at  the  adroit  man- 
i  ner  in  which  the  wool  was  pulled  over  people's  eyes,  etc.,  etc. 
"  But  how  did  it  happen  that  neither  Colonel  nor  Mrs. 
Floyd  was  cognizant  of  the  true  state  of  the  affair?" 
questioned  the  shrewd  ones. 
19* 


442 


"  In  for  a  penny,  in  for  a  pound !"  whispered  Harvey  to 
his  drugged  conscience,  as  it  stirred  in  its  sleep,  and  he  re 
plied  sotto  voce,  with  a  meaning  wink — "Colonel  never 
liked  Aleck — opposed  his  marrying  his  ward.  My  worthy 
relative  is  a  trifle  'kinky,'  as  we  all  know.  Had  no  objec 
tion  to  Robert.  Since  he  could  make  no  legal  opposition  to 
the  match,  both  parties  being  of  age,  he  vamosed  so  soon 
as  he  was  informed  who  the  veritable  Benedict  was  to  be. 
The  thing  had  gone  too  far  for  him  to  stop  it,  but  he 
wouldn't  look  on.  D'ye  understand  ?" 

And  even  the  shrewd  ones  were  so  verdant  as  to  believe 
that  they  did  understand.  Helen  was  voted  "  undutiful," 
"  unfeminine,"  and  "  fast,"  by  the  sober  adherents  to  cus 
tom  and  form;  "spunky,"  "resolute,"  and  "devoted," 
by  the  more  youthful  and  romantic  portion  of  the  com 
pany. 

"You  are  the  biggest  story-teller  I  ever  heard  of!"  de 
clared  Virginia  Shore  to  the  laughing  bride.  "And  to 
think  of  your  carrying  it  so  far  as  to  pretend  that  you  were 
going  to  wear  those  contemptible  rose-buds  as  your  only 
ornaments,  when  you  intended  to  behave  like  a  Christian 
woman,  and  sport  the  pearls !  It  must  be  owned  that  you 
look  like  a  queen  in  them.  Doesn't  she,  Mr.  Lay?  But 
for  all  that,  if  I  were  your  confessor,  I  would  make  you 
walk  ten  miles  with  peas  in  your  shoes  for  such  abominable 
fibbing.  And,  now,  I  am  just  expiring  to  know  one  thing. 
If  your  tongue  can  speak  the  truth,  after  its  long  and 
diligent  practice  in  the  other  line,  I  wish  you  would  tell  me 
where  Mr.  Robert  is.  It  is  the  one  unaccountable  cir 
cumstance  in  the  unravelled  plot — and  excuse  me,  my  dear — 
I  must  say  that  it  has  a  queer  look !" 

Aleck  came  to  Helen's  relief  so  promptly  that  her  hesita 
tion  at  this  very  direct  question  was  not  noticed. 

"Until  this  morning,   Miss  Virginia,   my  brother  had 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  443 

never  intimated  an  intention  of  absenting  himself  on  this 
interesting  occasion.  Before  breakfast  he  received  a  letter 
calling  him  from  home  upon  urgent  business.  The  sum 
mons  was  imperative,  and  admitted  of  not  even  an  hour's 
delay." 

Lily  was  passing  when  Virginia's  mention  of  Robert's 
name  struck  her  ear,  and  she  involuntarily  stopped  to  listen. 
Aleck  gained  her  eye  at  the  beginning  of  his  reply,  and  did 
not  release  it  until  he  concluded — held  it  by  a  gaze  of  such 
significant  contempt  that,  as  he  said  to  himself,  if  the  girl 
retained  one  grain  of  self-respect  or  shame,  she  must  quail 
beneath  its  questioning.  She  did  indeed  change  counte 
nance,  but  it  was  a  look  of  incredulity  or  surprise,  not  con 
scious  and  detected  guilt.  He  let  her  alone  after  that. 
She  had  no  ground  to  lose  in  his  estimation,  and,  whatever 
might  be  his  opinion  of  her  course  and  motives,  he,  of  all 
the  world,  had  least  cause  to  murmur  at  the  result  of 
these. 

Mrs.  Floyd — as  she  was  accustomed  to  aver  in  after  days 
— would  never  have  lived  through  that  evening  but  for  the 
support  of  Harvey's  unblushing  mendacity  and  Aleck  Lay's 
ready  tact.  Nor  was  Helen  backward  in  sustaining  her 
aunt  in  her  difficult  position.  Laying  aside  the  stiff  stateli- 
ness,  enjoined  by  etiquette  upon  the  bride,  she  deported 
herself  as  the  daughter  of  the  house,  who  was  mindful  of 
her  guests'  comfort  and  pleasure,  and  in  considering  these 
lost  sight  of  the  novelty  of  her  own  position.  She  did  not 
dance,  but  she  was  careful  that  no  lady  who  wished  to  do 
so  should  lack  a  partner ;  she  chatted  easily  and  freely  with 
matrons;  replied  merrily  to  the  badinage  of  the  elderly 
gentlemen,  who  were  not  sparing  in  their  comments  upon 
the  extraordinary  character  of  her  nuptial  ceremonies ; 
privily  directed  waiters,  and  as  privately  suggested  forgot 
ten  duties  to  the  mistress  of  the  establishment.  She  was 


incalculably  more  valuable  to  her  perplexed  and  worried 
aunt  than  was  Lily,  who  spoke  and  acted  all  the  while  like 
one  in  a  trance. 

Never  did  hostess,  especially  one  by  nature  and  practice 
so  hospitable  as  was  the  lady  of  Belleview,  hail  the  depart 
ure  of  visitors  so  joyfully  as  did  she  the  first  stir  of  leave- 
taking  among  those  whose  coming  she  had  greeted  with  un 
feigned  cordiality.  The  colonel  had  not  yet  returned,  when, 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  she  threw  her  wearied  limbs 
and  aching  head  upon  her  couch,  too  tired  and  full  of  pain 
to  speculate  on  her  lonely  pillow  as  to  the  causes  of  his  pro 
longed  absence.  She  slept  soon  and  soundly,  so  profoundly 
that  she  did  not  know  when  the  absentee  came  in,  and  was 
awakened  at  last  by  the  broad  light  of  morning. 

"  Bless  my  life,  it  is  eight  o'clock !"  she  exclaimed,  spring 
ing  up,  "  and  I  never  even  heard  Amy  make  the  fire  !  When 
did  you  come  in,  and  why  didn't  you  wake  me,  colonel  ?" 

Her  husband  was  at  the  toilette-table,  shaving  himself. 
Apparently,  his  hand  was  not  very  steady,  for  the  lather  he 
had  scraped  from  his  chin  was  streaked  with  blood,  and  the 
razor  inflicted  a  deep  gash  as  his  wife  spoke.  She  had 
scarcely  expected  any  answer,  other  than  the  one  which 
came — a  bitter  oath !  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  she  was  much 
more  concerned  about  the  wedding  breakfast,  and  the  prob 
able  condition  of  the  rooms  used  by  the  company  the  previ 
ous  evening,  than  affected  by  his  humor. 

He  surprised  her  by  a  query  before  her  hurried  dressing 
was  completed. 

"  How  did  your  dear  five  hundred  friends  take  the  news 
that  there  could  be  no  wedding,  for  want  of  a  bridegroom?" 
he  growled  between  his  teeth. 

"  Sure  enough  !  How  forgetful  I  am  !  You  were  not  here 
when  it  all  came  out !"  Mrs.  Floyd  checked  herself  in  the 
act  of  lowering  her  dress  over  her  head.  "  I  don't  know 


445 

how  to  tell  you,  or  where  to  begin.  It  was  all  so  unexpect 
ed,  even  to  me !  How  she  contrived  to  keep  it  a  secret  up 
to  the  last  minute,  I  cannot  divine  ;  but  she  did,  and  fooled 
us  all  completely.  And  to  think  that  Aleck  Lay  could 
play  the  hypocrite  as  well  as  she  did,  and  Robert  too !  I 
wouldn't  have  believed  it  of  him  !  I  always  thought  that 
he  had  such  an  open  heart  and  honest  tongue.  I  declare  it 
beats  every  thing  I  ever  heard  or  dreamed  of!" 

She  was  interrupted  by  a  profane  ejaculation,  and  an 
order  "  to  say  what  she  had  to  say,  and  to  stop  that  infernal 
gabble !" 

"  "Why,  my  love,  I  was  just  going  to  tell  you !  Did  you 
ever  suspect  that  she  was  not  in  love  with  him  ?  that  she 
was  throwing  dust  in  our  eyes  all  this  time,  even  when  $ie 
was  making  up  her  wedding  clothes  and  accepting  her  wed 
ding  presents  ?  When  Mr.  Bradley  commenced  the  cere 
mony,  I  really  thought  that  I  should  faint  outright.  And 
nobody  knew  it  except  Harvey,  and  I  must  say  that  he  be 
haved  very  unhandsomely  in  not  giving  me  a  hint.  Mercy 
on  us,  colonel!  what's  the  matter?" 

He  had  turned  about,  his  back  to  the  table,  leaning 
heavily  against  it ;  the  razor  in  his  hand ;  his  complexion 
nearly  as  colorless  as  the  foam  yet  left  upon  his  cheeks. 

"  Ceremony !  what  ceremony  ?"  he  said,  in  a  guttural 
whisper. 

"  Why,  the  marriage  service,  to  be  sure,  over  Aleck  Lay 
and  Helen  Gardner.  They  were  married  about  nine  o'clock, 
and— oh !" 

She  rushed  forward  with  a  scream,  in  season  to  prevent 
his  falling  to  the  floor,  seating  him  instead  in  an  easy-chair 
that  was  luckily  close  at  hand,  and  supported  the  heavy 
head,  swaying  helplessly  to  and  fro.  Her  frightened  cry 
speedily  brought  help.  A  gang  of  bustling,  terrified  ser 
vants  collected  around  him ;  stripped  off  his  outer  clothing, 


446 


loosened  his  collar  and  cravat,  and  bore  him  to  the  bed.  By 
the  time  they  reached  this  stage  of  proceedings,  he  had  re 
vived  so  far  as  to  speak,  but  so  inarticulate  was  his  primary 
attempt,  that  his  wife  begged  him  to  repeat  it.  He  did,  with 
an  angry  effort. 

"Booker!" 

"  Run  for  Booker,  some  of  you !"  ordered  Mrs.  Floyd. 
"  Do  you  want  him  to  go  for  the  doctor,  dear  ?"  she  inquired, 
tenderly. 

He  breathed  hard  and  loudly;  his  forehead  was  dark  still 
with  the  dangerous  flood  that  had  rushed  up  to  the  brain, 
yet  he  scowled  at  her  ;  lifted  his  hand  menacingly  towards 
the  flock  of  negroes. 

"  Out !  every  one  of  them !"  he  managed  to  say,  more 
distinctly  now. 

The  violence  of  the  attack  was  passing.  Booker  did  not 
obey  the  summons  with  especial  alacrity.  He  was  asleep 
when  it  was  brought  to  his  house,  and  awoke  unwillingly ; 
arose  sullen.  Mrs.  Floyd  was  banished,  as  her  menials  had 
been,  at  the  entrance  of  this  high  and  sulky  .functionary. 
For  half  an  hour  she  was  kept  waiting  without  the  chamber, 
while  a  low  conference  went  on  inside.  Her  lord  was  mani 
festly  better  when  the  janitor  permitted  her  return  to  the 
bedside ;  better  in  body,  but  in  temper  as  ill-conditioned  as 
mortal  could  well  be.  After  an  infinite  amount  of  argument 
and  persuasion,  she  prevailed  upon  him  to  admit  the  physi 
cian,  for  whom  a  messenger  had  been  despatched  two  hours 
before ;  and  since  she  was  not  forbidden  the  privilege,  she 
remained  in  the  room  during  his  stay. 

Colonel  Floyd  had  ridden  twenty  miles  the  night  before, 
he  stated  to  the  medical  man,  "  upon  a  false  scent" — he  in 
terpolated,  savagely — had  eaten  nothing,  and  slept  none. 
The  consequence  was  a  rush  of  blood  to  the  head — a  trifle 
not  worth  naming  but  women  were  such  fools  ! 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WABDS.  447 

Convinced,  upon  examination,  that  the  seizure  was  really 
not  severe,  and  his  patient  in  no  peril  of  his  life,  the  doctor 
recommended  a  little  cooling  medicine  and  a  day's  quiet ; 
buttoned  up  his  coat,  picked  up  his  saddlebags,  and  prepared 
to  go. 

"The  weather  has  moderated,"  he  remarked  to  Mrs. 
Floyd,  in  quitting  the  apartment.  "  We  shall  have  snow  by 
night." 

She  accompanied  him  down-stairs  ;  received  an  additional 
direction  or  two,  and  resought  her  husband's  presence.  He 
had  shifted  his  position,  and  dragged  another  pillow  under 
his  head ;  raised  himself  high  enough  to  enable  him  to  look 
out  of  the  window  nearest  the  bed. 

"  Didn't  the  doctor  say  there  would  be  snow  to-day  ?"  he 
asked,  in  ill-dissembled  eagerness. 

"  Yes,  it  is  clouding  up  fast.  We  shall  have  falling 
weather  by  noon,  I  think.  Aleck  and  Helen  are  about  going, 
my  dear.  Do  you  feel  able  to  say  4  good-by'  to  them  ?" 

"  If  I  did,  they  should  not  cross  that  threshold!"  he  said, 
vehemently.  Tell  .them  I  say  c  begone  !'  and  send  my  curse 
after  them." 

Mrs.  Floyd  wisely  and  politely  concluded  to  modify  this 
amiable  message  in  the  delivery ;  so  the  bridal  pair  were 
only  told  how  sorry  she  was  that  the  colonel  was  too  seri 
ously  indisposed  to  see  them,  and  that  the  doctor  had  en 
joined  absolute  quiet. 

The  dinner  party  at  Greenfield  was  to  proceed,  as  had 
been  contemplated  before  the  late  momentous  changes. 
This  was  decided  upon,  partly  to  gratify  Miss  Ruth,  partly 
to  appease  the  suspicions  of  those  who  obstinately  cherished 
the  idea  that  there  was  something  wrong  behind  the 
i  scenes ;  the  incorrigible  skeptics,  whom  even  Harvey  Floyd 
could  not  lie  into  belief  of  the  story  he  promulgated  so 
industriously. 


448 


The  fields  were  like  unwritten  white  paper;  the  roads 
were  growing  heavy  with  drifts,  and  it  was  still  snowing 
hard,  when,  at  dusk,  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the  ancient 
mansion  of  Maple  Hill,  and  Aleck  assisted  his  wife  to  alight. 
Neither  of  them  would  remain  under  Robert's  roof  longer 
than  was  necessary  for  appearance's  sake.  Both  longed  for 
quiet  and  home.  Busy  hands  had  been  at  work  within  doors 
all  day.  The  windows  were  ruddy  with  fire-light,  and  the 
young  husband  led  his  bride  from  the  raw,  chill  outer  air 
into  a  large,  old-fashioned  hall,  well  lighted  and  warm,  where 
were  ranged  a  score  of  family  servants,  dressed  in  holiday 
attire,  and  profuse  of  smiles  and  courtesies  to  their  new 
mistress. 

"The  blessin'  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  be  upon  em!" 
groaned  a  pompous  voice  from  the  head  of  the  line. 

Helen  tried  to  say  "  Thank  you !"  but  the  effort  expired 
in  stifled  mirth. 

"  The  egregious  blockhead !"  said  Aleck,  fretted  and  yet 
amused,  as,  having  spoken  a  kind  word  of  acknowledgment 
to  his  dependents,  he  conducted  Helen  into  the  parlor,  seat 
ed  her  in  a  great  chair,  and  undid  her  bonnet  and  cloak. 
"  The  preposterous  humbug  !  A  padlock  for  his  mouth,  to 
be  worn  constantly,  except  at  meal-times,  would  be  an 
admirable  regimen  for  him." 

"  Petronius,  was  it  not  ?"  asked  Helen,  still  laughing. 

"  Of  course  it  was  !  By  the  way,  I  must  have  a  talk  with 
him  to-morrow.  It  was  he  who  brought  that  letter  to  Green 
field  yesterday  afternoon.  I  omitted  in  my  excitement  then 
to  ask  him  at  what  point  of  the  road  he  met  Robert.  I 
would  like  to  inquire  into  the  particulars  of  their  interview. 
Why  are  you  shivering,  love,  are  you  cold  ?" 

"  No  !  only  a  passing  chill.  I  have  a  strange  aversion  to 
speaking  of  yesterday,  or  of  any  thing  connected  with — 
with— what  might  have  happened." 


449 


She  was  very  pale,  and  trembled  visibly.  Aleck  leaned 
over  to  kiss  her — put  his  arm  about  her. 

"  Why,  you  dear  little  goose  !  the  danger  is  all  over  now ; 
your  fate  is  sealed  !  You  are  a  captive,  and  your  jailer  is  a 
perpetual  institution." 

She  smiled  mutely;  then  her  head  drooped  upon  his 
shoulder,  and  there  was  silence  for  a  while. 

"  Speaking  of  Petronious  reminds  me  of  the  evening  ser 
vice  we  attended  at  Mr.  Shore's,  some  weeks  ago,"  resumed 
Aleck,  cheerfully,  to  dispel  any  remnant  of  unpleasant  feel 
ing  that  might  be  lingering  in  her  mind.  "  Do  you  recollect 
the  bit  of  paper,  the  loss  of  which  chagrined  Lily  so  much  ?" 

"  Yes.  I  knew  that  you  had  it  then,  although  I  dared  not 
thank  you  for  the  theft." 

He  took  out  his  pocket-book.  "  See  here,"  opening  an 
inner  compartment. 

"  Why  did  you  keep  it  ?"  asked  Helen,  catching  at  the 
soiled  and  creased  leaf. 

"  Because  I  read  there,  in  your  handwriting,  that  it  was 
4  dangerous  to  play  with  edge  tools,'  "  responded  Aleck, 
"  and  my  own  disappointed  heart  responded  to  the  truth  of 
the  maxim.  I  preserved  it  as  a  mtinitor  for  future  direction. 
The  consequence  was,  that  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  live 
and  die  a  '  crusty,  fusty  old  bachelor !''" 

With  a  gesture  of  playful  petulance,  that  brought  back 
to  him  the  memory  of  her  girl  days,  Helen  put  her  hand 
over  his  mouth,  and  tossed  the  paper  into  the  fire. 

"  I  am  glad  it  storms  !"  she  said  presently,  looking  at  the 
snow-encrusted  panes.  "  It  makes  our  home  so  much  the 
more  cosey  and  dear." 

While  they  mused,  with  locked  hands,  tenderly-smiling 
lips,  and  eyes  full  of  happy  light,  upon  the  sweetness  wrap 
ped  up  in  that  little  phrase,  "  our  home,"  Colonel  Floyd's 
chamber  was  dark,  save  for  a  feeble  glimmer  from  the  fire 


450 


he  would  not  allow  to  be  replenished,  and  the  waning  gray 
light  from  the  windows.  Upon  these  his  haggard  eyes  were 
fixed,  as  they  had  been  from  the  commencement  of  the 
storm,  gloating  with  a  sort  of  greedy  satisfaction,  which 
was  enigmatical  to  his  attendants,  over  its  continuance  and 
increasing  fury.  Not  until  the  last  ray  of  daylight  had  van 
ished,  and  he  could  no  longer  discern  the  falling  flakes  be 
tween  him  and  the  leaden  sky,  would  he  listen  to  his  wife's 
solicitations  that  she  might  have  the  curtains  lowered,  and 
wood  and  candles  brought  in. 

At  nine  o'clock  Booker  appeared  to  inquire  after  his  mas 
ter's  condition,  and  receive  his  orders  for  the  night.  Lily 
happened  to  be  present  at  the  moment.  Her  uncle  had  in 
sisted  upon  seeing  her,  on  her  return  from  the  dinner  at 
Greenfield,  as  if  to  assure  himself  that  she  was  actually  in 
the  house.  She  was  a  heart-sore  and  peevish  creature 
throughout  that  lonely  evening,  but  ungraciously  promised 
obedience  to  his  further  command  that  she  should  see  him 
again  before  retiring  to  rest.  It  was  upon  this  second  visit 
that  Booker  encountered  her. 

"What  of  the  weather?"  questioned  Colonel  Floyd  of  his 
retainer. 

"  Snowing  faster  than  ever,  sir.  The  drifts  will  be  four 
foot  deep  by  morning." 

"  Good!"  The  sick  man  settled  himself  in  his.  bed,  with  a 
grunt  of  satisfaction 

Booker  continued, 

"  And  upon  ground  so  hard  froze  as  it  is  now,  the  snow 
will  lie  three  weeks  and  better." 

"  I  don't  see  why  that  should  be  so  desirable  as  you  seem 
to  think !"  said  Lily,  crossly,  shrugging  her  shoulders.  "We 
will  have  bad  roads  all  spring." 

"Hold  your  tongue,  you  jade,  and  go  to  bed!"  said  her 
uncle,  furiously. 


451 


"That's  because  you  don't  understand,  you  see,  Miss 
Lily,"  answered  Booker,  demurely.  "Deep  snows  are  prime 
for  the  winter  wheat,  and  for  every  thing  else  that's  in  the 
ground,  for  that  matter.  Good-night,  sir  ;  I  hope  you'll 
sleep  sound." 


452  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Two  months  had  passed  since  the  wedding,  which  had 
set  the  tongues  of  the  neighborhood  wagging,  as  only  an  out- 
of-the-way  marriage  or  shocking  murder  can  do.  It  was  a 
mild,  soft  afternoon,  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  and 
Helen  Lay  stood  at  the  front  window  of  her  pretty  parlor, 
watching  the  winding  road  that  led  up  to  the  house.  'Aleck 
had  been  absent  four  days,  on  a  business  trip  to  Baltimore, 
and  this  evening  was  to  end  their  first  separation.  How 
keenly  she  had  felt  it,  might  be  gathered  from  her  restless 
movements  about  the  room,  when  her  eyes  became  weary 
of  Draining  into  the  unsatisfactory  distance ;  her  changeful 
color  and  quickened  attention  at  sight  of  any  far-off  moving 
object,  or  any  sound  that  fancy  could  construe  into  the  rum 
ble  of  wheels  or  beat  of  hoofs. 

"  He  won't  come  while  you  are  looking  for  him  my  dear," 
observed  Aunt  Ruth,  with  a  quiet  smile,  from  her  seat  at 
the  fire. 

But,  placid  as  she  looked,  and  steadily  as  grew  the  stock 
ing  under  her  fingers,  she  was  not  free  from  impatience  her 
self,  and  inwardly  rejoiced  in  the  signs  of  anxiety  which  the 
young  wife  could  not  conceal.  They  were  tributes  to  her 
"  boy's"  worth,  proofs  of  the  affection  borne  him  by  his  best 
beloved.  Helen  blushed,  and  tried  to  laugh ;  then  came  and 
sat  down  beside  the  diligent  spinster. 

"  I  believe  that  I  am  '  fidgetty'  to-night,  as  Virginia  Shore 
calls  it*  but  it  is  not  altogether  the  desire  to  see  Aleck 


453 


again,  although  I  do  not  deny  that  that  feeling  is  strong.  I 
am  oppressed  by  the  idea  of  some  impending  sorrow — a 
presentiment  that  something  sad  or  disagreeable  is  to  befall 
me.  You  have  felt  such,  Aunt  Ruth,  have  you  not  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  Then  you  know  how  hard  it  is  to  shake  these  off." 

"Yes!" 

Miss  Ruth  sighed ;  a  respiration  telling  of  a  volume  of 
like  experiences. 

"  Not  that  I  believe  in  omens  or  presentiments,"  contin 
ued  Helen,  bravely,  "  only  when  one  is  a  little  excited  from 
other  causes,  a  notion  of  this  kind  fastens  more  easily  upon 
the  mind.  I  have  not  been  very  happy  to-day ;  not  nearly 
so  buoyant  of  spirits  as  I  should  be.  Lily's  countenance,  as  I 
saw  it  yesterday  at  church,  has  haunted  me  ever  since.  You 
must  have  observed  how  sadly  she  has  changed." 

"  Yes,  dear !"  Aunt  Ruth  said,  in  intonation  and  look ; 
"  who  could  help  noticing  the  poor  child !  I  never  saw  a 
sadder  wreck  in  my  whole  life." 

"I  wish,  for  her  sake,  that  Robert  would  come  home," 
Helen  resumed,  pensively.  "  His  movements  are  a  complete 
riddle  to  me.  They  vex  Aleck  grievously,  too.  He  has 
written  to  Robert  five  or  six  times,  but  the  two  letters  we 
have  received  from  the  runaway,  make  no  mention  of  his 
having  heard  from  us.  The  suspense  is  hard  for  the  brother 
to  endure ;  what  must  it  be  to  Lily,  poor  girl !  Hist !" 

The  faint  echo  that  had  entered  her  ear  grew  louder. 

"  Yes !"  nodded  Aunt  Ruth,  smilingly,  in  answer  to  the 
brightening  eyes  and  uplifted  fingers. 

They  harkened  a  minute  longer.  A  carriage  was  cer 
tainly  approaching. 

"  I  will  not  stir  until  it  stops  !"  said  Helen,  poutingly, 
her  cheeks  one  flush  of  crimson.  ™  You  shall  see  how  well 
I  can  behave !" 


4:54: 


She  fulfilled  her  promise  to  the  letter;  but  there  was 
scanty  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  patient  awaiting  in  her 
gladsome  exclamation  and  rapid  flight  to  the  hall  door  when 
the  wheels  ceased  to  move.  The  vehicle,  a  buggy  driven 
by  a  negro,  was  similar  in  appearance  to  that  which  had 
been  sent  to  the  depot  for  the  absent  master  of  Maple  Hill. 
It  had  halted  before  the  porch  steps,  and  a  gentleman  was 
alighting  when  she  appeared  at  the  entrance.  But  his  was 
not  the  joyous  bound  of  a  wedded  lover ;  nor  was  it  Aleck's 
figure  and  features  that  met  her  dismayed  vision.  The 
driver  was  Booker,  his  passenger  Colonel  Floyd.  Chagrined 
and  disconcerted  though  Helen  was  at  the  unexpected  and 
unwelcome  visit,  she  could  not  but  remark  the  change  in 
his  person  and  movements  effected  by  his  recent  sickness. 
His  step  was  slow  and  languid ;  his  hair  whiter,  and  his  eye 
had  the  furtive,  uneasy  glance  of  one  disturbed  by  perpetual 
forebodings  of  evil,  or  harassed  by  constant  physical  suf 
fering. 

"  Aunt  was  right  when  she  told  me,  the  other  day,  that 
he  was  woefully  broken,"  thought  Helen,  as  with  instinctive 
and  lady-like  hospitality,  she  offered  her  hand  and  invited 
him  to  enter  the  house. 

"Not  until  he  had  paid  his  respects  to  Miss  Ruth,  seated 
himself  by  the  hearth  and  removed  his  gloves,  did  he  revert 
to  the  errand  that  had  brought  him  hither.  That  he  had 
an  errand,  and  one  which  could  not  be  intrusted  to  another, 
Helen  was  assured  the  instant  she  saw  him,  for  he  had 
never  darkened  the  doors  of  her  new  abode  until  now. 

"  I  have  called  to  see  Mr.  Lay  upon  business,"  he  said  to 
her.  "  Business  which  should  have  been  settled  before  this 
late  day,  but  for  my  infirm  state  of  health." 

"He  left  home  last  Friday  for  Baltimore,"  replied  Helen, 
"  and  has  not  yet  returned.  I  am  expecting  him  this  even 
ing." 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  455 

She  could  not  force  herself  to  propose  that  he  should 
await  Aleck's  arrival.  Polite  insincerity  could  not  carry 
aer  to  the  length  of  deliberately  concerting  such  a  defeat 
f  her  anticipated  ^yous  meeting  with  her  husband.  It 
eemed  that  Colonel  Floyd  was  not  inclined,  in  this  respect, 
o  stand  upon  ceremony.  He  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and 
crossed  his  legs,  with  the  aspect  of  one  who  had  laid  in  a 
ufficient  stock  of  patience,  and  had  no  intention  of  remov- 
ng  immediately  from  his  chosen  position.  Aunt  Ruth  sat 
ip  stifly,  lips  compressed  and  eyes  riveted  upon  her  work, 
lelen  made  another  effort  to  do  the  honors  decently.  She 
vould  not  essay  cordiality. 

"I  hope  that  aunt  and  Lily  are  well." 

"  I  believe  they  are.     I  hear  no  complaints." 

"Lily  is  looking  badly,  I  think.  I  met  her  yesterday  at 
;hurch." 

"  Humph !  Three-fourths  of  her  disorder  is  imagination, 
ler  aunt  tells  me  that  she  is  troubled  with  dyspepsia  and 
•lues  this  winter.  It  is  fashionable  for  young  ladies  to  fall 
ato  ill-health." 

"  She  is  certainly  very  thin,  and  coughs  a  great  deal," 
esponded  Helen,  smothering  her  displeasure  at  his  con- 
emptuous  reply — and  there  was  a  tedious  pause. 

Her  face  kindled  presently,  and  glancing  significantly  at 
liss  Ruth,  she  left  the  room.  There  was  no  mistake  this 
ime.  Another  buggy  had  driven  to  the  door — Colonel 
.loyd's  moving  on  to  make  room  for  it,  and  Aleck  Lay 
3aped  to  the  ground  almost  before  the  horse  was  checked. 
i[e  came  directly  up  the  steps  to  salute  his  wife ;  held  her 
b  him  in  a  hasty  embrace  and  kissed  her ;  but  his  first 
I'ords  were  abrupt,  his  tone  harsh 
:  "  Is  Colonel  Floyd  here  ?" 

"Yes — in  the  parlor.     I  am  very  sorry — " 

"Jam  not!" 


4:56 


He  strode  into  the  hall ;  tore  off  his  over-coat,  and  tossed 
it  with  his  hat  and  gloves  upon  a  table ;  then  moved  in  the 
direction  of  the  parlor  without  another  word.  Shocked 
and  chilled  by  his  stern  face  and  negligent  treatment  of 
herself,  Helen  yet  ventured  to  follow  him. 

"  Dear  Aleck !"  she  entreated,  hanging  on  his  arm. 
"  There  is  no  haste  about  seeing  him.  Come  to  our  room 
and  rest  awhile — let  me  brush  the  dust  off!  You  look  very 
weary,  and  a  bath'will  refresh  you.  I  am  afraid  you  are 
not  well." 

"  Oh,  yes  I  am !  I  must  see  this  man — get  this  meetin 
over  at  once !" 

Helen  still  hindered  him. 

"You  know,  dear,  that  I  could  not  help  his  being  here 
just  now !  I  did  not  dream  of  his  coming  until  he  drove 
up.  I  am  sure  I  wish  that  he  had  stayed  away !  You  are 
not  angry  with  me,  are  you  ?" 

The  question  or  the  timid  tone  served  to  recall  Aleck  to 
his  senses.  He  looked  down  into  the  loving,  pleading  eyes, 
where  the  tears  were  already  welling. 

"  My  precious  wife !  could  I  be  angry  with  you  even  if  I 
had  cause  ?  and  that  can  never  happen !  Forgive  me  if  1 
act  strangely.  My  mind  is  full  of  other  and  important 
things — matters  concerning  which  we  will  talk  together  by 
and  by.  You  know  that  I  am  happy  in  being  once  more  at; 
home,  and  with  you !" 

He  gave  her  another  kiss  more  fond  than  the  former  ;  re 
leased  her,  and  entered  the  apartment  where  his  visitor 
awaited  him. 

Helen  did  not  go  in  directly  after  him.  She  ran  off  into 
her  chamber  to  hide  the  emotion  she  would  not  have  others 
perceive.  It  was  very  foolish  and  wrong  to  weep  6ver  M 
trifling  disappointment  like  this,  but  she  had  pictured  to 
herself  such  different  things  !  the  murmured  words  of  tea- 


457 


derness ;  the  long,  close  embrace ;  the  thousand  inquiries 
after  her  welfare  and  occupations  during  his  absence — es 
pecially  how  she  had  borne  that  separation  ;  the  ejacula 
tions  of  delight  at  -their  reunion — that  were  to  have  filled 
the  earlier  moments  of  their  renewed  intercourse.  How 
could  he  leave  her  so  soon  and  hastily — how  speak  so  coldly 
— how  plead  preoccupation  with  more  important  things? 
Up  to  this  hour  their  married  life  had  glided  on  like  a  bliss 
ful  dream ;  the  lover-husband  been  all  that  the  most  exact 
ing  bride  could  require.  Was  this  the  beginning  of  that 
settling  down  into  the  graver  actualities  of  every  day  home- 
life  which  every  one  except  themselves  predicted  as  their 
future  lot;  which  they  had  promised  one  another  should 
never  come  to  them  ?  It  had  been  easy  to  tell  Robert  that 
she  had  outlived  youthful  romance  ;  that  she  was  not  a  sen 
timental,  unreasonable  girl,  but  a  common-sense,  matter-of- 
fact  woman.  If  she  had  married  him  he  would  doubtless 
have  found  her  to  be  all  that  she  had  described.  As  it 
was — 

She  walked  restlessly  up  and  down  the  floor  ;  now  letting 
the  tears  flow  freely,  now  drying  them  in  haste,  as  fancy 
deluded  her  with  the  thought  that  she  caught  the  sound  of 
Aleck's  distant  footsteps.     Surely  he  would  come — he  could 
not  stay  away  when  he   observed  that  she  had  not  fol- 
i  lowed  him !     Colonel  Floyd's  business  was  a  matter  of  no 
;  consequence  after  all.     She  was  certain  that  it  pertained  to 
jthe  settlement  of  his  guardianship  accounts,  for  he  could 
ihave  none  other  with  Mr.  Lay.     Into  these  it  may  be  re 
membered  that  she  had  advised — nay,  urged  Robert    to 
look.     The  idea  of  being  defrauded  was  then  painful  to  her. 
She   wanted  to   bring,   as   her    marriage   portion,   to  the 
younger  brother,  property  that  would  justify  her  in  a  feel- 
ling  of  thorough  independence    for  the  remainder  of  her 
days ; — that  should,  in  plain  phrase,  pay  her  personal  ex- 
20 


458 


penses,  and  never  oblige  her  husband  to  lay  out  a  dollar  of 
his  own  fortune  to  insure  her  comfort  or  pleasure.  She 
believed,  then,  that  she  was  actuated,  as  she  had  said  to 
her  betrothed,  by  a  sincere  desire  for  the  advancement  of 
his  interests  no  less  than  hers.  She  cared  little  whether  she 
were  dependent  upon  Aleck  or  no.  All  that  she  had  was 
his,  and  for  the  rest — benefits — a  livelihood  itself  from  his 
hand  would  be  all  the  sweeter  because  she  owed  them  to 
his  love.  Total  dependence  upon  the  one  truly  and  only 
beloved  never  yet  wounded  a  woman's  pride. 

She  had  time  to  indulge  these,  and  many  other  medi 
tations  in  the  wearisome  half-hour  consumed  in  fruitless 
waiting  and  childish  fears.  Then,  with  a  smack  of  the  old 
haughtiness  she  condemned  as  unworthy,  even  while  she 
yielded  to  it,  she  resolved  to  cast  aside  the  part  of  the  love 
lorn  lady,  pining  in  her  bower ;  to  show  him  that  she,  like 
wise,  could  be  oblivious  of  tender  weaknesses  and  alive  to 
rational  considerations,  such  as  should  govern  a  sober, 
right-minded  couple,  from  whose  cup  of  happiness  eight 
weeks  of  wedded  experience. had  puffed  away  the  sparkling 
foam.  She  bathed  her  eyes,  smoothed  her  hair,  added  an 
ornament  or  two  to  her  tasteful  home  attire,  that  he  might 
not  construe  apparent  neglect  in  dress  into  proof  of  an 
absent  or  suffering  mind,  and  betook  herself,  work-basket 
in  hand,  to  the  drawing-room. 

Aunt  Ruth  was  no  longer  there, — a  circumstance  Helen 
did  not  discover  until  she  had  advanced  half-way  down  the 
apartment.  But  she  had  seen  her  husband  start  and  look 
hurriedly  over  his  shoulder  as  the  door  unclosed,  and 
imagined  that  he  frowned  at  seeing  her.  If  her  presence 
were  undesired  by  him,  he  quickly  subdued  any  token  of 
displeasure  or  regret,  arising  to  set  a  chair  near  the  fire  for 
her,  and  bowing  as  he  did  so,  as  courteously  as  to  an  hon 
ored  guest. 


459 


"Perhaps  I  had  better  not  stay,"  said  Helen,  in  an  under 
tone,  stopping  short  when  she  perceived  Miss  Ruth's  empty 
seat.  "I  am  afraid  that  you  are  engaged  !" 

"  You  will  be  no  hindrance,"  was  the  reply,  spoken  in 
grave  politeness;  and  still  doubting  which  course  dignity 
and  expediency  would  advise,  she  obeyed  his  gesture  and 
sat  down. 

There  were  candles  upon  the  table,  so  disposed  that  they 
shed  a  strong  light  on  Colonel  Floyd's  features,  while 
Aleck,  by  accident  or  design,  had  drawn  back  into  com 
parative  shadow.  Helen  was  nearest  him,  but  could  only 
see  his  profile.  Colonel  Floyd  almost  faced  her,  and  she 
noticed,  mechanically,  as  it  were,  that  he  seemed  to  be 
annoyed,  or  otherwise  excited.  His  hand  rested  upon  sev 
eral  letters  and  other  written  papers  lying  on  the  table,  and 
shuffled  them  nervously  as  he  spoke  or  listened. 

"You  have  had  no  direct  personal  communication  by 
mail  or  in  any  other  manner  with  my  brother,  since  he  left 
home,  I  understood  you  to  say,  Colonel  Floyd  ?"  said  Aleck, 
interrogatively,  going  on  with  the  conversation  his  wife's 
entrance  had  interrupted. 

"None,  whatever,  sir.  The  last  interview  we  had  was 
purely  one  of  business,  and  took  place  in  the  forenoon  of 
the  twenty-fourth  of  December.  At  that  time  he  delivered 
to  me  the  cancelled  bonds  I  have  just  shown  you.  My  prin 
cipal  reason  in  requesting  his  presence  on  that  occasion  was, 
that  I  might  discharge  the  debt  long  due  him.  He  was  at 
my  house  from  ten  o'clock  until  one ;  our  conference  was 
held  in  the  office,  for  want  of  a  more  comfortable  place,  and 
continued  for  nearly  two  hours,  as  Mrs.  Lay  may  recol 
lect,"  bowing  and  smiling  sardonically  to  Helen. 

Aleck  waived  the  reference  and  Helen's  silent  bend  of  as- 
'sent ;  did  not  turn  to  see  whether  she  had  heard  or  replied. 

"You  had  an  appointment  with  him  for  the  next  day, 


460 

however,"  he  continued,  in  a   tone  that  sounded  dry  and 
guarded  to  Helen's  ears. 

"  Which  he  entirely  failed  to  keep !"  interposed  the  colo 
nel,  quickly. 

"  Without  sending  you  any  apology  ?" 

"  I  received  none.  I  left  home  at  ten  or  thereabouts,  rode 
leisurely  to  the  clerk's  office,  where  Mr.  Robert  Lay*was  to 
meet  me  at  eleven ;  waited  for  him  more  than  an  hour  and 
a  half,  as  Mr.  Willis  can  testify  ;  then,  supposing  that  he  had 
been  unavoidably  detained,  and  not  knowing  how  long  I 
might  be  kept  there  if  I  undertook  to  stay  until  he  came,  I 
placed  a  certificate  in  Mr.  Willis's  hands  to  the  effect  that 
my  ward,  Miss  Gardner,  was  of  age,  and  therefore  free  to 
marry  whenever  and  whomsoever  she  pleased,  and  returned 
to  Belleview.  Mrs.  Lay  perhaps  remembers  that  I  was  at 
the  house  when  she  came  home  after  a  morning  walk, — more 
over,  that  I  informed  her  of  your  brother's  failure  to  keep 
his  engagement  with  me." 

Again,  Helen  gave  a  grudged  and  unspoken  response  to 
his  appeal,  which  was  heeded  as  little  by  her  husband  as 
the  former  had  been.  He  sat  with  an  elbow  resting  upon 
the  table;  his  hand  spanning  his  forehead,  and  from  its 
shadow  his  eyes  gazed  keenly,  intensely  upon  his  visitor, 
never  quitting  him  for  a  second.  Colonel  Floyd  felt  their 
scrutiny,  for  he  winced  at  each  question,  and  carefully  re 
frained  from  looking  at  his  interlocutor  during  his  rejoinder. 

"  It  is  growing  very  late  !"  he  observed,  rustling  his  doc 
uments  into  a  bundle,  and  tying  them  together  with  a  bit 
of  red  tape.  » 

The  knot  was  insecure,  as  was  proven  upon   trial,  and 
when  it  gave  way  at  the  strain  intended  to  tighten  it,  the  j 
loose  sheets  were  scattered  over  the  table.     Aleck  assisted  ^ 
in  collecting  them. 

"  These  are  the  bonds !"  he  remarked,  pausing  in  the  task 


461 


to  examine  two  small  pieces  of  paper  selected  from  the  heap. 
"  Excuse  me  for  saying  it,  but  it  strikes  me  that  this  was  an 
unbusiness-like  mode  of  annulment — merely  drawing  a  pen 
across  the  face  of  the  instrument.  I  am  surprised  that 
Robert  adopted  it.  I  wonder  more  that  you  did  not  de 
mand  a  receipt,  also." 

"  If  I  recollect  rightly,  I  did,  and  received  one,"  returned 
Colonel  Floyd,  very  busy  with  the  refractory  package  ;  his 
fingers  becoming  more  awkwardly  unsteady  every  instant. 
"  Have  it  at  home — I  can  show  it  to  you,  if  you  doubt  my 
word,  Mr.  Lay,"  summoning  his  proudest  manner  and  ac 
cent. 

"  I  have  not  intimated  such  a  doubt,"  replied  Aleck,  calm 
ly.  "  My  brother's  movements  of  late  are  enveloped  in  so 
much  obscurity,  and  about  many  of  them  hangs  such  an  air 
of  mystery,  that  I  am  excusable  for  examining  somewhat 
narrowly  into  all  that  can  be  ascertained  concerning  the  last 
day  or  two  which  he  passed  at  home." 

"  Certainly !  Certainly !  You  are  quite  right,  sir !" 
Colonel  Floyd  crowded  the  packet  into  his  pocket.  "  And 
I  assure  you  that  any  information  that  I  can  afford  you, 
any  light  that  I  can  cast  upon  this  unhappy  affair,  is  quite  at 
your  command,  Mr.  Lay.  But,  to  be  frank  with  you,  I  must 
say  that  his  conduct  is  not  wholly  unaccountable  to  me. 
Young  blood  is  hot,  and  young  judgment  hasty — and  Mr. 
Robert  Lay  was  young,  ardent,  injudicious.  I  have  heard 
rumors  of  his  serious  losses  at  play,  and  other  unfortunate 
indiscretions,  to  which  I  would  not  allude  in  your  presence, 
but  for  my  desire  to  elucidate  what  appears  to  be  a  puzzle 
to  you." 

There  was  a  stain  of  fresh  blood  on  the  lip  Aleck's  teeth 
let  go,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  but  he  betrayed  no 
other  sign  of  passion. 

"  If  I  understand  you,  sir,  you  counsel  me  to  discretion  in 


462 


prosecuting  further  inquiries  : — as  a  friend  to  my  brother, 
you  would  perhaps  recommend  that  I  drop  them  entirely  ?" 
he  said,  with  the  same  steadfast  look  into  the  colonel's  eyes. 

"  I !  I  counsel  nothing  !  As  I  have  remarked,  I  stand 
prepared  to  render  you  what  assistance  I  can.  My  deeds 
are  ever  open  to  the  day.  The  arrangement  is,  then,  Mr. 
Lay,  that  I  meet  you  to-morrow  at  the  clerk's  office,  and 
settle  with  you  so  far  as  is  practicable,  upon  so  short  a 
notice.  It  is  fortunate  that  I  chance  to  have  several  thou 
sands  lying  in  bank  at  this  juncture,  or  your  fair  wife's  pre 
cipitate  action  might  have  taken  me  at  a  disadvantage," — 
bowing  to  Helen. 

"I  do  not  see  how  that  could  be,  sir !"  she  was  provoked 
to  reply.  "You  had  several  months'  notice — " 

He  interrupted  her.  "Of  your  contemplated  marriage 
with  Mr.  Robert  Lay,  I  grant,  my  dear  lady!  But  there 
were  certain  circumstances  I  will  not  now  stop  to  explain 
that  made  a  prospective  settlement  with  your  bonafide  be 
trothed  and  present  husband  a  very  different  affair  from 
what  my  reckoning  with  his  brother  would  have  been." 

Helen  was  literally  too  angry  to  speak — too  much  incensed 
to  make  any  return  to  the  pompous  adieus  that  wound  up 
this  impertinence. 

Aleck  attended  her  whilom  guardian  to  the  door — neither 
his  wife  nor  himself  extending  to  him  an  invitation  to  tea 
— and  remained  there  after  the  buggy  had  driven  away, 
pacing  hard  and  hurriedly  to  and  fro  upon  the  piazza,  until 
the  bell  rang  for  supper.  Then,  he  made  no  haste  to  an 
swer  the  call. 

"  I  wish  Aleck  would  come  in !"  mildly  complained  his 
aunt.  "  The  muffins  will  get  solid  and  the  chickens  cold. 
I  should  think  he  would  be  hungry  after  travelling  so  many 
hours." 

Helen  said  nothing,  but  seating  herself  at  the  head  of 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  463 

the  board  began  setting  out  the  cups  and  saucers  upon  the 
tea-tray. 

"Ring  that  bell  again!"  Miss  Ruth  ordered,  presently, 
as  the  last  hope  of  saving  her  hot  fowls  and  puffy  muffins 
from  woeful  depreciation ;  and  at  this  second  call  the  mas 
ter  came. 

"  He  might  as  well  have  stayed  away  for  all  he  ate !" 
thought  Aunt  Ruth,  despairingly  noting  the  untouched  food 
upon  his  plate. 

He  drank  a  cup  of  coffee;  declined  his  wife's  coolly  civil 
offer  to  send  him  another,  and  sat  stirring  and  inspecting 
the  grounds  or  sugar  left  in  the  bottom  of  the  cup,  with  as 
siduity  as  serious  as  that  displayed  by  the  most  accomplished 
fortune-teller.  His  brows  were  bent  into  settled  severity ; 
his  mouth  compressed  into  sternness  as  immovable,  and 
when  he  answered  the  two  or  three  queries  with  which  his 
aunt  found  courage  to  ply  him,  his  tone  was  absent  and 
dreamy.  Whatever  might  be  the  theme  of  his  cogitations, 
he  studied  it  with  every  energy  of  heart  and  mind,  to  the 
exclusion  of  every  other.  Finally  he  pushed  back  his  chair, 
hardly  vouchsafing  a  brief  "  excuse  me  !"  to  the  ladies,  and 
left  the  table. 

"  Is  Petronius  at  home  ?"  he  demanded  of  the  servant  in 
waiting. 

"  I  believe  he  is,  sir." 

"  Go  and  see,  and  when  you  find  him  send  him  to  me,  in 
the  library !  I  have  letters  to  write,  Helen,"  he  added,  "  sev 
eral  that  must  go  by  to-morrow's  mail.  I  am  sorry  to  seem 
unsocial  on  the  evening  of  my  return,  but  it  cannot  be 
helped."  He  went  out. 

Helen,  too,  arose.  "Take  more  wood  into  the  library!" 
she  said  to  another  domestic.  "  Your  master  will  probably 
sit  up  late." 

Not  a  tone  faltered.     Her  lids  were  level  and  dry ;  but 


464  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 

Aunt  Ruth  divined  something  of  the  storm  of  feeling  wax 
ing  to  its  height,  and  not  unreasonably  associated  these 
signs  of  the  times  with  Aleck's  reserved,  morose  mood. 

Left  to  herself  to  survey  the  slighted  feast,  to  whose  de 
molition  she  had  looked  forward  with  such  lively  and  inno 
cent  delight,  the  old  lady  shook  her  head  at  the  closing  door 
as  Helen  vanished  through  it,  and  sighed  a  regretful,  but 
not  hopeless — "  yes." 

Not  hopeless — for  the  dear  soul  had  heard  of  lover's  quar 
rels  and  the  certainty  and  sweetness  of  reconciliation,  and 
believed  that  she  read  correctly  the  symptoms  of  this  fa 
mous,  but  not  dangerous  distemper,  in  conduct  that  would 
upon  any  other  hypothesis  have  been  inexplicable  and  unpar 
donable.  Acting  upon  this  persuasion,  she  lingered  not 
long  in  dining-hall  or  parlor.  In  the  last-named  room  Helen 
kept  her  company,  sewing  steadily,  and  talking,  not  freely  or 
continually,  but  pleasantly,  when  she  did  speak ;  the  scarlet 
spot  in  either  cheek  and  her  curling  lip  evincing  that  the  in 
ward  strife  was  still  far  from  being  quelled. 

"  Proud !  proud !"  soliloquized  Aunt  Ruth,  mentally. 
"  Lucifers  in  pride — both  of  them !  The  best  thing  I  can  do 
is  to  leave  her  to  solitary  reflection  for  awhile ;  at  any  rate, 
to  take  my  old  useless  body  out  of  the  way,  in  case  he  should 
give  in  first — as  I've  heard  that  men  are  apt  to  do — and 
come  to  look  for  her.  They  will  never  make  up  while  there 
are  others  by.  Helen,  dear!"  she  said  aloud,  "I  am 
pretty  tired  to-night,  or  else  it  is  this  warmish  weather  that 
makes  me  drowsy.  I  believe  I  will  go  to  bed  if  you  won't 
mind  my  leaving  you.  Aleck  will  be  in  pretty  soon  now  to 
hinder  you  from  getting  lonesome.  His  letters  can't  keep 
him  much  longer." 

"  If  they  do,  I  shall  not  be  lonely,  aunt.  Do  not  let  me 
keep  you  up  a  minute  longer  than  is  convenient  and  pleasant 
for  you.  I  shall  retire  early  myself?" 


465 


Yet  she  sat  there  for  two  long,  long  hours,  hoping,  listen 
ing,  longing,  and  resentful,  sullen,  desperate,  by  turns  ;  now 
half  resolved  to  seek  him,  to  cast  herself  upon  his  bosom 
and  supplicate  for  some  demonstration  of  the  affection,  so 
freely  and  richly  lavished  upon  her  heretofore  by  eye,  word 
and  caress  ;  now  avowing  that  she  would  die  of  heart-break 
;  sooner  than   she   would  adopt   a   course   so   humbling  to 
I  woman's   pride.    At  eleven  o'clock  she  folded  her  work, 
closed  the  shutters,  fastened  down  the  windows  and  extin 
guished  the  lamp ;  exercising  no  remarkable  degree  of  cau- 
jtion  in  performing  the  work.     The  library  adjoined  the  sit- 
i  ting-room,  and  although  there  was  no  door  of  direct  com 
munication  between  the  two,  yet  the  occupant  of  the  former 
!  could  not  well  avoid  hearing  and  understanding  the  meaning 
iof  the  bustle  prefacing  her  retiring  for  the  night.     If  he  did 
jhear  it,  he  would,  if  he  had  any  consideration  for  her  wishes 
land  feelings,  leave  his  employment — "  important"  as  it  was 
( — and  come  to  their  chamber  to  exchange  a  few  words  with 
Iher  before  bidding  her  "  good-night."     Therefore,  she  dis 
missed  her  maid,  professing  that  she  was  too  wakeful  to 
leep,  and  wished  to  read  awhile ;  then  drew  her  chair  near 
be  fire — again  to  hearken  for  feet  that  did  not  come,  to 
ine  for  loving  tones  and  language  that  were  not  now  to  feed 
er  hungry  heart. 

The  hands  of  her  watch  pointed  to  twelve,  when,  ex- 
austed  and  disheartened,  she  lay  down  upon  her  pillow, 
nd  she  tossed  there  a  dreary  while  before  falling  into  a 
roubled  sleep.  Dreams  connected  and  vivid,  came  with 
nore  profound  slumbers.  She  was  sitting  upon  the  great 
ock  at  the  spring,  in  the  soft,  summer  moonlight  with  Rob- 
rt.  The  story  of  his  long-cherished  attachment  was  still 
ounding  in  her  ears,  awakening  the  strange,  sad  heart-ache, 
he  mingled  pity  and  sisterly  tenderness  she  remembered  so 
his  hand  enfolded  hers ;  his  arm  was  about  her  waist ; 
20* 


466 


when — sudden,  stern  and  sad,  up  started  the  form  and 
lineaments  of  his  brother,  and  the  whole  might  of  her 
heart's  love  leaped  out  towards  him.  She  stretched  her 
arms  to  him ;  cried  in  the  unutterable  agony  of  her  soul  for 
him  to  come  and  release  her — to  take  her  with  him, — that 
she  loved  him — him  only — him,  always!  But  he  turned 
scornfully  away,  and  Robert's  grasp  was  inflexible  as  chains 
of  wrought  steel,  binding  her  with  a  pressure  that  nearly 
deprived  her  of  breath. 

"  Mine  !   mine !"  he   said,  in  fierce  earnestness — "  until 
death  us  do  part !" 


467 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

WITH  a  smothered  shriek — a  last,  frenzied  cry  of  "  Aleck ! 
dearest  Aleck !"  Helen  awoke  from  the  nightmare. 

She  was  sitting  upright ;  the  cold  sweat  dripping  from 
her  forehead;  her  hands  clasped,  and  her  lungs  heaving 
convulsively,  as  if  'the  imaginary  pressure  had  been  real, 
and  but  just  removed.  The  room  was  dimly  illumined  by 
the  dull,  red  glow  of  the  embers.  She  had  replenished  the 
fire  just  before  going  to  bed.  Had  it  burned  out  so  soon  ? 
Groping  her  way  to  the  mantel,  she  struck  a  light  and 
looked  at  her  watch. 

Ten  minutes  past  two !  and  she  was  still  alone  !  Where 
was  he  ?  Was  there  then  truth  in  the  horrible  dream  that 
had  scared  her  native  bravery  from  her  breast,  and  had  he 
deserted  her  ?  Or,  was  he  ill  ?  Had  sudden  sickness,  or 
fatal  accident  befallen  him  in  that  far  off,  lonely  room  ? 

Seeking  hastily  for  a  wrapper,  she  took  down  from  the 
wardrobe  the  crimson  cashmere  robe  she  had  worn  when 
summoned  to  meet  Aleck  in  the  office,  on  her  wedding 
night.  She  thought  of  that  interview  while  preparing  for 
this,  and  the  memory  strengthened  her  resolve.  Taking 
the  candle  with  her,  she  stepped  out  into  the  cheerless  hall. 
A  ray  of  light  stole  from  under  the  library  door,  but  all 
was  still  within.  Her  soft  step  had  not  disturbed  the 
student.  With  a  beating  heart  she  turned  the  bolt  and 
entered. 

"  Who  is  there  ?"  cried  Aleck,  angrily  springing  to  his 
feet. 


468 


Then,  as  his  wife's  pale,  shocked  countenance  met  his 
sight,  he  passed  his  hand  over  his  eyes,  as  if  to  dispel  the 
mists  of  some  horrible  illusion,  and  said  more  gently, 

"  Ah !  Helen !  is  it  you  ?  You  startled  me  a  little ;  is  any 
thing  the  matter  ?" 

"  Not  with  me,  darling !" 

She  had  seen  his  face,  and  pride  and  resentment  fled  apace. 
The  terrible  anguish  that  had  ploughed  those  furrows  in  the 
brow,  and  left  its  imprint  upon  every  feature,  should  not  be 
borne  by  him  alone,  while  she  lived  to  share  the  load.  She 
crept  up  to  him  like  a  child  to  whom  perfect  love  has  taught 
boldness,  and  wound  her  arms  about  his  neck ;  drew  down 
his  cheek  to  hers. 

"Aleck !  dear  husband !  you  cannot  reject  my  sympathy 
in  your  trouble,  even  while  you  may  not  think  it  best  to 
confide  to  me  its  nature.  I  wish  I  could  bear  it  with  and  for 
you!" 

He  strained  her  to  }iis  heart,  as  if  he  would  never  let 
her  go. 

"  Darling !  darling !"  was  ah1  he  could  say,  in  accents 
strangled  by  the  welling  of  the  pent-up  flood  of  feeling. 

Then  he  placed  her  in  the  chair  from  which  he  had  arisen ; 
knelt  before  her,  and  still  holding  her  in  his  arms,  buried  his 
face  in  her  lap,  while  a  storm  of  sobs  shook  his  whole  frame. 
The  bewildered  and  terrified  wife  strove  by  every  loving 
art  to  win  him  back  to  composure.  Not  once  did  she  inquire 
into  the  cause  of  the  agitation  that  could  so  master  his  heal 
thy  nerves  and  powerful  will.  She  only  implored  him  to 
be  comforted,  for  her  sake ;  reminded  him  that  whatever 
other  calamity  had  befallen  him,  they  were  still  spared  to 
one  another;  that  their  mutual  affection  remained  un 
changed. 

"You  are  mine!  mine  only — are  you  not?"  he  asked, 
suddenly  lifting  himself  to  look  at  her.  "  You  gave  yourself 


469 


to  me  not  because  you  believed  another  unfaithful,  but  be 
cause  you  loved  me." 

"  You  know  that  I  have  always  loved  you,  dearest !" 

She  pressed  her  lips  to  the  hot  eyes,  laid  his  head  upon 
her  bosom. 

"  Do  not  think  me  weak,  unmanly,"  he  said  gratefully. 
"  But  I  had  sat  here  all  the  night,  surrounded  by  images  of 
such  horror ;  beset  by  reflections  so  agonizing,  that  the  re 
action  produced  by  your  blessed  companionship  was  too 
great.  I  shall  not  be  overpowered  again.  You  have  done 
me  good,  my  comforting  angel!  Poor  child  !"  he  continued, 
stroking  the  pallid  face  bowed  over  his.  "  You  are  worn 
out  with  watching  and  anxiety.  I  am  a  careless  brute,  who 
does  not  deserve  such  a  wife." 

Her  hand  was  upon  his  mouth  and  stopped  the  words. 

"  I  am  not  worn  out !  I  have  had  a  long  nap, — and 
awaking,  was  alarmed  to  find  how  late  it  was ;  became 
uneasy  lest  you  might  be  sick,  or  some  accident  had  hap 
pened,  and  came  to  look  for  you.  This  is  the  history  of 
my  intrusion." 

"  Intrusion  !  a  welcome  diversion !  I  was  under  a  spell, 
and  might  have  remained  here  until  dawn,  without  moving, 
had  you  not  broken  it." 

He  was  sitting  upon  the  sofa,  now,  and  pulled  her,  with 
gentle  force,  to  his  knee. — As  she  complied  with  his  wish, 
she  saw  his  eye  rest  upon  a  pile  of  papers  heaped  in  the 
middle  of  the  table,  and  that  a  shuddering  anguish,  a  fear 
ful  look  of  sorrow  and  rage,  went  over  his  visage  ;  felt  him 
tremble  violently  under  her  weight. 

"  I  cannot  have  you  stay  in  this  haunted  chamber  !"  she 
said,  in  forced  playfulness. — "  The  influence  of  the  unholy 
spell  is  upon  you  still,  I  see." 

"  If  I  could  tell  you — but  no !  it  would  be  cruel !" 

"  To  me  do  you  mean  ?    If  that  withholds  you  from  speak- 


470 


ing  freely,  I  can  answer  the  objection.  How  often  have 
you  declared  that  I  was  'the  bravest  girl  in  Christendom  ? 
and  I  am  your  wife  now,  Aleck  !" 

"Thank  God  for  that!"  was  the  fervent  response. 
"  There  have  been  moments  to-night,  when  I  have  been 
ready  to  call  myself  a  villain — an  unscrupulous  criminally 
selfish  villain — for  having  married  you  at  the  time,  and  in 
the  manner  I  did.  But  you  are  my  witness,  dear  one,  that 
passionately  as  I  loved  you,  I  never  uttered  a  syllable  that 
conflicted  with  Robert's  rights  until  I  believed  that  you 
were  freed — and  by  him  !" 

"Aleck!  what  are  you  saying?  Did  he  not  free  me!" 
exclaimed  Helen,  growing  deathly  pale,  more  at  his  look 
and  manner  than  his  language. 

"  Hush,  love !  As  I  have  said,  you  are  mine — lawfully 
and  forever !  There  was  no  wrong  in  what  we  did,  although 
a  morbid  sensibility  may  discern  cause  for  regret  that  our 
action  was  so  hasty;  that  we  relied  too  readily  upon  the 
evidence  furnished  us.  But  the  result  would  have  been  the 
same  had  we  waited  for  further  developments.  Be  assured 
of  that !  I  would  have  made  you  my  wife  at  the  earliest 
date  to  which  I  could  gain  your  consent — in  spite  of  our 
sorrow  and  the  opposition  of  others.  What  should  I  do 
without  the  consolation  of  your  society — the  cordial  of  your 
sympathy  now  ?" 

"  You  are  talking  in  enigmas,"  said  Helen,  colorless  as 
marble,  yet  speaking  firmly.  "  And  since  you  have  said 
thus  much,  I  must  know  all.  You  wrong  me  in  keeping  it 
back.  Every  moment  of  suspense  causes  me  additional  and 
needless  suffering.  I  cannot  only  be  strong,  but  prudent 
and  secret." 

She  stood  in  front  of  him  with  composed  and  resolute 
mien. 

"Not  so!     You  must  come  back  to  your  old  place — to 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  471 

your  home,  dearest !  only  while  I  hold  you  fast,  and  feel  the 
touch  of  your  hand  upon  mine,  can  I  have  courage  to  go 
through  with  the  sad  tale.  I  will  tell  you !  my  heart  aches 
to  pour  out  its  grief  before  you,  and  the  knowledge  must 
come  to  you  sooner  or  later.  Have  you  the  strength  to  lis 
ten  now  ?" 

"  I  have  the  strength  for  any  thing — for  every  thing  but 
this  racking  suspense." 

Carefully  and  gradually  as  he  could,  in  his  own  excited 
state,  he  unfolded  to  her  all  that  he  had  learned  and  sus 
pected  within  the  past  four  days. 

While  in  Baltimore  he  had  gone  into  a  jeweller's  in  quest 
of  some  gift  for  her,  and  looking  idly  into  a  show-ease  of 
watches,  espied  one  resembling  so  precisely  a  time-piece  he 
had  sent  Robert  from  Europe,  a  year  before,  that  he  had  asked 
leave  to  examine  it.  His  gift  to  his  brother  was  inscribed 
on  the  inside  of  the  case  with  a  peculiar  cipher  composed 
of  their  joint  initials,  and,  to  his  astonishment,  he  found  this 
identical  hieroglyph  within  that  he  now  held. 

"  This  is  a  second-hand  watch,  I  perceive,"  he  remarked 
to  the  proprietor  of  the  establishment. 

"  It  is,  sir,  but  a  first-class  article.  One  seldom  sees  a 
finer  specimen  of  the  kind  in  this  country." 

"  I  think  that  I  recognize  it  as  an  old  acquaintance,"  re 
joined  Mr.  Lay,  nonchalantly  as  he  could  speak.  "  If  I  were 
sure  of  the  fact  I  should  certainly  buy  it.  Will  it  be  any 
breach  of  confidence  if  you  tell  me  the  name  of  the  person 
from  whom  you  had  it?" 

"JSTone,  whatever,  sir,  provided  we  know  it  ourselves. 
Every  thing  in  our  business  is  conducted  fairly  and  above 
board,"  replied  the  merchant,  willing  to  secure  a  purchaser. 

He  referred  to  his  books  for  the  desired  information. 
The  watch  was  brought  to  the  store  on  the  twentieth  of 
January  by  a  gentleman  who  professed  to  dispose  of  it  on 


472 


behalf  of  another — but,  beyond  this,  Aleck  could  learn 
nothing.  The  clerk  who  had  concluded  the  bargain  was 
out,  and  none  of  the  other  employes  retained  any  recol 
lection  of  the  customer's  appearance  or  name.  Stipulating 
that  he  should  have  the  refusal  of  the  watch  until  a  certain 
hour  in  the  afternoon,  Aleck  left  the  shop  and  went  to  trans 
act  some  business  at  the  bank  where  his  account  had  been 
kept  ever  since  he  reached  his  majority. 

He  was  personally  well  known  to  the  officials  there,  and 
the  cashier,  while  paying  over  the  amount  he  wished  to 
draw,  observed : — "  By-the-way,  Mr.  Lay,  I  hope  your 
brother  has  no  cause  of  dissatisfaction  with  us.  His  deposits 
have  usually  been  heavy,  and  his  drafts  so  infrequent  as  to 
leave  a  large  amount  always  to  his  credit.  But,  one  day, 
about  the  middle  of  January,  he  surprised  us  by  drawing 
upon  us  for  every  cent  he  had  in  our  hands — for  more,  in  fact, 
as  he  has  learned  from  the  statement  of  account  we  forwarded 
to  him  by  mail.  He  overchecked,  inadvertently,  to  the 
amount  of  five  hundred  dollars." 

"Impossible!"  ejaculated  Aleck.  "Who  presented  the 
drafts?" 

"  A  neighbor  of  yours,  I  think — Colonel  Floyd." 

"What!" 

"Unless  I  was  mistaken  that  was  the  name  by  which 
your  brother's  letter  introduced  him,"  answered  the  bank 
officer,  in  some  surprise.  "I  kept  it  as  a  voucher,  although 
the  bearer  came  to  us  in  company  with  a  well-known  and 
highly  respectable  citizen." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  both  letter  and  draft,  if  you  please !" 
requested  Aleck,  recovering  himself. 

They  were  quickly  produced.  The  note  was  brief,  and 
dated  December  24th ;  and  it,  as  well  as  the  drafts,  bore 
Robert's  signature. 

"  The  genuineness  of  which  I  deny !"   said  Aleck  to  the 


473 


alarmed  cashier.  "  In  the  first  place,  I  do  not  believe  that 
my  brother  would  have  taken  a  step  so  singular  and  import 
ant  without  consulting  me ;  in  the  second,  I  happen  to  know 
that  Colonel  Floyd  would  not  be  the  individual  likely  to  be 
intrusted  with  this  business.  Mr.  Robert  Lay  is  not  at 
home  just  now,  and  I  ask  you,  as  a  favor,  to  let  the  matter 
rest  until  I  can  privately  investigate  it." 

The  promise  was  willingly  given,  and  the  perturbed 
Aleck  directed  his  steps  again  to  the  jewellers,  more  anxious 
than  ever  to  obtain  possession  of  the  watch,  and  unriddle 
the  mystery  of  its  present  ownership. 

The  head  clerk  was  in  the  store  this  time,  a  sharp,  quick 
Yankee,  whose  wits  were  always  on  the  alert,  and  who  was, 
in  this  case,  disposed  to  be  very  communicative.  He  recol 
lected  perfectly  the  incident  of  the  watch  being  offered  for 
sale,  and  the  physiognomy,  form,  etc.,  of  the  man  who 
brought  it  to  the  establishment.  His  attention  was  particu 
larly  drawn  to  these  by  the  oddity  of  the  proposed  negotia 
tion  on  the  part  of  a  gentleman  so  imposing  in  demeanor, 
and  stylish  in  apparel.  He  could  tell  more ;  for  chancing,  on 
the  day  after  the  purchase,  to  enter  the  office  of  a  certain 
fashionable  hotel,  he  had  seen  the  same  person  sitting  there, 
smoking  in  company  with  a  party  of  acquaintances — had  in 
quired  his  name,  and  learned  that  it  was  Floyd. 

With  the  watch  safe  in  his  pocket,  Aleck  thanked  the 
obliging  salesman,  and  hurried  off  to  follow  up  another  clue 
to  the  truth  of  the  dark  surmise  he  yet  entertained  vaguely — 
almost  blindly.  This  was  an  inspection  of  the  hotel  register 
of  January  20th.  He  found  upon  the  record  of  the  18th 
Colonel  Floyd's  name,  written  in  his  dashing  hand.  He  had 
been  in  the  city  at  that  date  then,  although  Aleck  had  never 
heard  of  the  visit  until  now.  He  it  was,  beyond  a  question, 
who  had  presented  the  false  checks,  if  false  they  were,  and 
sold  the  watch.  Could  he  be  acting  as  Robert's  agent  ?  ac- 


474: 


credited,  yet  secret  ?    If  this  were  so,  there  was  deep  villany 
somewhere ;  if  not,  imagination  recoiled  at  the  black  abyss 
of  crime  unveiled  by  the  doubt.     Still  undergoing  the  tor 
ments  of  indecision  and  never-still  suspicions,  he  set  out  j 
upon  his  return  journey. 

The  nearest  depot  to  Maple  Hill  was  Hock's  Tavern,  to  \ 
which  place  Robert's  farewell  letter  to  his  brother  had  di 
rected  him  to  send  for  his  horse.  Hero  had  been  found  ! 
there,  securely  stabled,  and  had  now  occupied  his  old  stall ' 
at  Greenfield  for  many  weeks ;  but  motives  of  delicacy,  tha^ 
principal  of  which  was  to  shield  Robert  from  public  remark, 
had  deterred"  Aleck  from  making  any  inquiries  as  to  who  J 
had  left  the  animal  in  the  hostler's  care.  Dismissing  these 
now  as  absurd,  where  issues  so  momentous  were  involved, 
he,  upon  his  arrival  at  the  tavern,  made  it  his  business  to 
search  out  the  negro  who  had  charge  of  the  stables,  and 
recalling  to  his  mind  the  circumstance  and  the  time  of  its 
occurrence,  asked  whether  he  had  himself  seen  Mr.  Robert 
Lay  while  he  waited  at  the  house  for  the  afternoon  train. 
The  fellow  professed  to  recollect  every  thing  connected  with 
the  matter,  and  was  positive  in  declaring  that  the  horse  had 
not  been  brought  to  the  stable  until  two  hours  after  the  cars 
had  passed,  and  when  it  was  already  dark ;  that  his  rider 
was  a  negro  of  gruif  speech  and  few  words,  who  represent 
ed  that  he  had  been  ordered  to  leave  the  horse  in  his,  the 
hostler's,  keeping,  until  Mr.  Alexander  Lay,  of  Maple  Hill, 
should  send  for  him,  and  forthwith  departed  upon  foot.  He 
would  be  loath,  he  subjoined,  hesitatingly,  to  get  an  inno 
cent  person  into  mischief,  but  one  of  the  stable-boys  had 
recognized  the  horseman  by  flashing  a  lantern  into  his  face 
as  he  was  leaving  the  yard.  He  was,  the  groom  was  certain, 
a  free  colored  man  of  questionable  character,  who  lived 
about  five  miles  away. 

Aleck  diverged  from  his  road  on  the  way  home,  to  call  at 


475 


his  fellow's  abode — a  mean  cabin,  situated  in  a  pine  grove 

ibout  midway  between  Colonel  Floyd's  plantation  and  the 

lepot,  a  sequestered,  ill-looking  spot,  fit  to  be  the  scene  of 

ml  deeds  that  shunned  the  light.     The  owner  of  this  choice 

Habitation  was  absent,  but  his  wife  appeared  at  the  door 

vhen  the  carriage  stopped,  and  manifested  signs  of  extreme 

trepidation  at  beholding  the  visitor.   .  Alighting  with  a  se- 

fere,  determined  countenance,  Mr.  Lay  called  her  aside,  and 

>oldly  proclaimed  his  knowledge  of  her  husband's  errand  to 

ihe  tavern  on  Christmas  night — a  job  that  would  get  him 

hto  trouble  unless  he  could  show  that  he  came  honestly  by 

jhe  horse,  or  confessed  who  had  commissioned  him  to  per- 

prm  the  act.    The  woman  hung  back  for  a  time.     She  knew 

othing  of  the  matter ;  she  had  not  seen  the  animal ;  she 

as  away  from  home  all  Christmas  week,  and  a  dozen  lies 

ore,  which  Aleck  upset  as  fast  as  she  brought  them  for- 

ard. 

At  last,  as  he  was  turning  off  with  the  warning  that  she 
ud  her  accomplices  might  shortly  find  themselves  before  a 
ibunal  where  means  would  be  devised  to  extort  the  truth, 
be  burst  into  tears,  and  offered  to  reveal  all  she  knew,  pro- 
ded  he  would  not  betray  her  to  her  husband.  A  horse 
ad  been  brought  to  their  house  about  three  o'clock  on 
hristmas  day,  by  Booker,  Colonel  Floyd's  head  man.  She 
ad  peeped  at  him  through  the  window  as  he  talked  in  the 
ard  with  Jeff,  her  husband,  had  seen  him  hand  Jeff  a  bank 
ote,  and  that  the  latter  led  the  horse  to  the  rude  hut  they 
Jled  a  barn,  and  shut  him  in,  locking  the  door  and  pocket- 
g  the  key.  She  did  not  dare  to  ask  questions,  or  indeed 
>  mention  what  she  had  witnessed,  unless  Jeff  should  volun- 
jer  an  allusion  to  the  affair.  He  made  but  one  remark  that 
ould  have  any  bearing  upon  the  subject,  and  that  was  at 
ight-fall,  just  after  he  had  despatched  his  supper. 
"I  shan't  be  home  until  near  midnight,"  he  had  said, 


476 


u  and  I've  got  one  word  to  say  before  I  start.  Whatever 
you've  seen  to-day,  or  may  hear  to-night,  hold  your  tongue, 
or  you'll  suffer  for  it." 

With  that  he  went  out,  and  she  distinctly  heard  the 
tramping  of  hoofs  soon  afterwards. 

"  While  anxiety  and  suspense  were  wrought  to  the  high 
est  pitch  by  my  endeavors  to  shape  a  reasonable  theory  out 
of  all  this,"  continued  Aleck,  "  I  reached  home,  and  the  first 
object  I  beheld  was  Colonel  Floyd's  carriage,  with  Booker 
standing  by  it ;  heard  from  you  that  he  himself  was  waiting 
to  see  me.  His  ostensible  business  was  to  ask  me  to  fix  a 
day  for  the  settlement  of  his  guardianship  accounts.  He 
offered  the  intelligence  that  he  could  hand  over  immediately 
that  portion  of  your  estate  which  was  in  ready  money,  and 
also  render  satisfactory  statements  of  sales  of  property ;  the 
yearly  crops  and  servants'  hire  ;  sums  disbursed  for  your 
expenses  ;  and  a  great  deal  more  plausible  talk,  to  which  I 
lent  only  half  an  ear.  As  adroitly  as  I  could  in  my  unsettled 
state,  I  forced  him  to  speak  of  his  liabilities  to  Robert,  the 
proofs  of  which  I  told  him  my  brother  had  showed  me  in  a 
couple  of  bonds,  executed  and  signed  by  Colonel  Floyd,  cov 
ering  an  amount  of  nine  hundred  dollars.  Accomplished 
villain  as  I  knew  him  to  be,  I  was  yet  thunderstruck  when 
he  produced  from  his  pocket-book  the  identical  bonds,  and 
displayed  a  long  cross-mark  on  the  face  of  each,  made,  he 
averred,  by  Robert  himself,  on  the  day  before  Christmas,  at 
which  date  he  had  paid  over  the  full  amount  of  his  indebt 
edness,  and  received  these  in  testimony  thereof.  Now,  my 
darling,  do  not  be  too  much  shocked  by  what  I  am  going  to 
say.  At  twelve  o'clock,  that  very  Christmas  Eve,  Robert 
and  I  sat  in  my  chamber,  talking  over  his  prospects,  pecu 
niary  and  matrimonial,  and  he  exhibited  these  very  papers 
uncancelled — told  me  of  the  debt  still  due  to  him,  express 
ing  his  doubt  as  to  its  final  liquidation,  and  his  regret  for 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  477 

the  weakness  that  had  beguiled  him  into  lending  money  to 
an  unprincipled  spendthrift." 

"  Can  it  be !"  exclaimed  Helen.  "  Yet  I  heard  Colonel 
Floyd  tell  you—" 

"  You  heard  him  tell  me !"  interrupted  Aleck,  with  in 
creasing  excitement — "  like  the  liar  that  he  is,  that  he  had 
never  held  any  communication  with  Robert  since  the  noon 
of  the  24th  of  December ;  that  the  annulled  bonds  were  de 
livered  to  him  at  that  time  ;  the  papers  which  I  stand  pre 
pared  to  swear  I  saw  twelve  hours  later  in  my  brother's 
hands.  I  purposely  made  him  repeat  the  statement  in  your 
presence,  that  I  might  have  a  credible  witness  of  the  as 
tounding  falsehood.  Now  come  several  grave  questions. 
By  what  means  did  he  obtain  possession  of  those  bonds,  and 
Robert's  watch,  a  prized  keepsake,  which  I  have  often  heard 
him  declare  he  would  never  part  with  on  any  consideration? 
If  that  woman's  tale  be  true,  and  it  is  corroborated  by  the 
hostlers,  Colonel  Floyd's  man  Booker  must  have  seen  Rob 
ert,  and  had  some  transaction  with  him  on  Christmas  morn 
ing  ;  else  how  came  he  by  the  horse  he  left  at  the  free  ne 
gro's  ?  What  is  it  ?"  for  Helen  clasped  her  hands  with  a 
low  ejaculation. 

"I  do  not  know  that  it  "is  worth  mentioning,"  she  said, 
"  but  on  that  day  I  took  a  long  walk  in  the  wojods  back  of 
Belleview,  and  while  sitting  under  a  clump  of  evergreens,  a 
mile  or  more  from  the  house,  I  saw  Booker  pass  on  horse 
back.  I  had  only  a  partial  view  of  the  horse,  but  I  remem 
ber  he  was  dark  bay  in  color,  and  carried  his  head  high, 
like  a  gentleman's  hunter.  Could  it  have  been  Robert's 
Hero?" 

"I  believe  it,"  said  her  husband,  emphatically."  "In 
what  direction  was  he  going — along  what  road  ?" 

"  That  was  the  strangest  part  of  it !  He  rode  through 
the  thickest  heart  of  the  forest,  where  there  was  not  even  a 


COLONEL  FLOYDS  WAKDS. 

bridle-path.  I  supposed  that  he  was  taking  a  short  cut 
from  the  Bryantown  to  the  Maysville  road." 

"  The  very  route  he  would  have  chosen  if  he  wished  to 
go  by  stealth  to  Jeff  Harris's  house.  Go  on !  You  heard 
and  saw  nothing  more  while  you  were  there  ?" 

"  Nothing — the  day  was  very  still.  Oh,  yes,  I  did  hear  a 
gun !  but  it  sounded  some  distance  off— I  should  say  half  a 
mile." 

"  Was  this  before  or  after  Booker  passed  you  ?" 

"  Before — some  time  before.  My  idea  was,  when  I  saw 
him,  that  he  had  fired  it,  for  there  are  not  many  sportsmen 
daring  enough  to  hunt  on  Colonel  Floyd's  grounds." 

"  Does  he  allow  Booker  to  carry  firearms  ?"  asked  Aleck, 
assuming  the  composure  that  was  contradicted  by  the  white 
strain  of  the  muscles  on  the  lower  part  of  his  face. 

"  Not  that  I  know  of.  I  do  not  recollect  ever  seeing  him 
with  a  gun.  Colonel  Floyd  rarely  stirs  from  the  house 
without  Jiis.  I  have  told  you  that  it  was  by  this  sign  that 
Sally  identified  him  in  the  eaves-dropper  behind  the  oak  at 
the  spring,  one  night,  when  Robert  and  myself  were  talk 
ing  together." 

Abandoning  the  effort  to  look  and  speak  as  if  no  great 
horror  were  upon  her  spirit,  she  said,  gazing  tremblingly 
into  her  husband's  eyes — the  more  fearfully  as  she  saw  them 
try  to  avoicl  hers — 

"Aleck!  you  have  not  said  all  yet!  Tell  me  plainly, 
what  is  your  fear  ?  My  brain  is  in  such  a  whirl  that  I  can 
not  connect  all  the  circumstances  you  have  enumerated.  I 
only  feel  that  there  is  some  frightful  mystery  in  this." 

"  Would  it  be  wise  or  merciful  in  me  to  burden  you  with 
what  may  be  a  mistaken  conjecture?"  he  answered,  eva 
sively.  "  Here  are  Robert's  letters — or  those  purporting  to 
have  come  from  him  since  his  strange  flight.  Will  you  look 
them  over  with  me?" 


479 


The  first  was  dated  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  contained 
but  eight  or  ten  lines.  It  was,  as  the  writer  termed  it,  "  a 
miserable  scrawl,"  and  signed — "in  great  haste,  R.  C.  L." 
The  second  was  longer,  and  date  and  postmark  were  Vicks- 
burg,  Miss.  In  it,  he  spoke  of  himself  as  a  man  wrecked 
in  heart  and  well-nigh  ruined  in  fortune,  and  intimated  his 
intention  of  seeking  a  residence  in  some  distant  land.  Dis 
honored  and  disappointed,  he  could  not  yet  face  his  former 
associates. 

"  I  have  not  had  one  word  from  you,  or  from  L.,  since  I 
forsook  home,  and  resigned  reputation  for  her  sake.  Wo 
men  are  the  most  faithless  of  created  beings,  as  even  you 
may  find  some  day  to  your  cost.  Love  to  your  wife.  I 
read  a  notice  of  your  marriage  in  a  Baltimore  paper.  Are 
you  not  obliged  to  me  for  stepping  out  of  the  way  in  the 
nick  of  time  ?  She  was  easily  consoled,  and  I  am  not  the 
person  to  regret  this  ;  yet  I  should  have  respected  her  more 
if  she  had  paid  a  decent  regard  to  the  proprieties  of  the 
case.  I  wish  you  joy  of  your  bargain,  and  often  amuse  my 
self  by  fancying  how  entirely  you  agree  in  heaping  contempt 
upon  my  devoted  head.  Ah,  well!  so  wags  the  world! 
and  I  must  not  complain.  It  is  not  likely  that  you  will  hear 
from  me  again  shortly.  I  leave  this  place  this  afternoon, 
for  New  Orleans,  where,  unless  I  change  my  mind,  I  shall 
take  passage  for  Europe.  You  don't  care  for  me  now,  old 
scamp,  and  I  am  fast  learning  resignation  to  this  conviction. 
Let  Greenfield  stand  as  it  is,  for  a  year — within  which  time 
I  will  forward  instructions  as  to  the  disposition  I  wish  you 
to  make  of  the  property. 

"  Your's  more  carelessly  than  of  yore, 

"ROBERT  C.  LAY." 

Aleck's  earliest  perusal  of  this  epistle  had  been  so  hasty 


4:80  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS. 

and  indignant  that  he  had  failed  to  note  its  irregular  char 
acters  ;  been  incapable  of  comparing  its  coarse,  careless  lan 
guage  with  Robert's  gentle  and  habitually  courteous  style. 
That  his  scrutiny  and  conclusions  on  this  night  had  been 
more  searching  and  correct,  was  evidenced  by  his  next 
movement. 

"  Compare  them  !"  he  said,  laying  down  before  his  wife  a 
letter  which  his  brother  had  written  him  while  he  was 
abroad. 

The  clean,  clear  sheet  offered  at  the  first  glance  such  a 
contrast  to  the  Vicksburg  document  that  Helen  changed 
color  with  surprise  and  consternation  before  her  husband 
proceeded,  word  by  word,  letter  by  letter,  to  point  out  the 
dissimilarity  between  the  two.  A  general  resemblance  ex 
isted — sufficient  to  deceive  a  cursory  or  unsuspecting  reader, 
but  the  longer  one  looked  the  more  bungling  appeared  the 
forgery. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?"  questioned  Helen,  in  a  suppressed 
voice  of  awe  or  fright. 

"Just  this — "  Aleck  pressed  down  his  wrath  and  grief  to 
reply — "just  this  !  our  poor  brother  never  wrote  either  of 
these  communications.  They  are  part  of  a  villanous  plot 
contrived  to  dupe  us  into  a  belief  of  his  unworthiness,  and 
to  hide,  Heaven  alone  knows  what  degree  of,  treachery  and 
crime.  The  introductory  step  in  the  system  of  deception 
that  has  imposed  upon  no  one  more  than  myself— blind,  be 
sotted  fool  that  I  was !  was  that  libellous  letter  delivered  to 
me  on  Christmas  night — which — mark  me !  that  wretch 
Petronius  confessed  to  me  in  this  room,  not  four  hours  ago, 
he  did  not  get  from  Robert !  The  cowardly  knave,  terrified 
by  my  manner  into  the  belief  that  I  had  discovered  his  false 
dealing,  owned  that  he  had  cherished  a  grudge  against  me, 
from  the  evening  of  that  meeting  at  Mr.  Shore's,  on  account 
of  my  public  rebuke  to  himself;  that  Booker  had  taunted 


481 


him  with  the  story  several  times,  and,  meeting  him  in  the 
road  on  the  afternoon  of  Christmas  day,  offered  him  a 
chance  of  paying  off  the  score  by  annoying  and  mortifying 
me.  The  job  was  an  easy  one,  and  if  carried  through  well 
he  was  to  receive  ten  dollars.  He  had  only  to  give  me 
this  letter  and  declare  that  he  had  had  it  from  Mr.  Robert 
Lay ;  that  he  had  met  him  at  such  and  such  a  place  on  the 
road,  and  been  commissioned  to  deliver  the  envelope  into  my 
hands.  The  rascally  hypocrite  did  his  work  well.  "  Oh !" 
he  groaned,  arising  and  striding  through  the  room,  "  how 
dull — how  madly  stupid  I  have  been !" 

Helen  sat  like  a  statue. 

"  Dearest !"  she  ventured  to  say,  after  a  while,  "  where, 
then,  is  Robert  ?  What  has  become  of  him  ?" 

He  stopped — letting  his  clinched  fist  fall  heavily  upon 
the  table.  "  Before  Heaven  I  speak  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  truth,  when  I  declare  that  Colonel  Floyd  murdered  him 
— either  with  his  own  hands,  or  by  means  of  his  servant 
Booker !" 

In  his  overwhelming  excitement  he  had  not  made  due 
allowance  for  his  wife's  weaker  nerves ;  had  not  appreciated 
the  fact  that  she  had  had  but  one  little  hour  in  which  to 
receive  and  comprehend  the  dread  conviction  that  had  been 
growing  in  his  mind  for  three  days. 

As  the  word  "  murdered"  left  his  tongue,  she  sprang  to 
her  feet  with  a  wild,  horrified  stare,  and  when  the  sentence 
was  finished,  gave  a  cry,  and  fell  back  fainting. 
21 


482 


CHAPTER    XV. 

IT  was  not  long  after  sunrise  the  next  morning  when 
Aleck  Lay  dismounted  at  the  Greenfield  gate.  Returning 
slightly,  and  with  an  absent  air,  the  surprised  salutations  of 
the  few  servants  who  were  about  the  stables  and  yard,  he 
went  quickly  up  the  walk  to  the  house  door,  unlocked  it, 
entered,  and  shut  it  behind  him.  The  confined  air  in  the 
halls  struck  coldly  to  his  heart ;  the  shadows  lurking  in 
corners,  the  feeble  light  glimmering  through  the  barred 
shutters,  had  something  ghostly  about  them.  Unconscious 
ly,  he  trod  softly  in  ascending  the  stairs  ; — more  lightly  and 
slowly  as  he  reached  his  brother's  vacant  chamber.  It  was 
very  dark,  and,  to  his  imagination,  colder  than  the  rest  of 
the  house.  It  required  an  effort  of  courage  to  pass  the 
threshold,  and  he  had  to  grope  his  way  across  the  room  when 
he  wished  to  draw  a  curtain  and  throw  wide  a  blind. 
Every  thing  was  in  perfect  order.  Aunt  Ruth  had  spent 
half  a  day  there,  during  the  first  week  of  Robert's  absence ; 
had  arranged  clothing  and  furniture ;  swept  and  dusted,  be 
fore,  in  obedience  to  Aleck's  directions,  she  had  shut  up  the 
chamber  and  turned  the  key  on  the  outside.  She  had  per 
formed  her  self-imposed  duty  with  many  tears,  but  the 
housewifery  eyes  were  not  therefore  dimmed,  nor  had  the 
neat,  swift  fingers  lost  their  cunning.  Aleck's  present  ex 
pedition  was  undertaken  at  his  wife's  suggestion,  and  Aunt 
Ruth's  motherly  care  for  her  absent  boy,  joined  to  her 
spinsterly  particularity,  was  the  main  cause. 


483 

When  Helen  was  fully  acquainted  with  the  nature  and 
xtent  of  her  husband's  dreads,  and  had  regained  some 
aeasure  of  her  usual  firmness  and  penetration,  he  found  her 
cute  intelligence  and  correct  memory  invaluable  assistants 
i  forwarding  his  researches.  She  had  recapitulated  Sally's 
ccount  of  the  dishonorable  conduct  of  Colonel  Floyd  on 
tie  night  of  the  rendezvous  at  the  spring ; — his  attempts  to 
iduce  Robert,  and  then  herself,  to  consent  to  a  marriage 
ontract;  his  chagrin  and  rage  at  his  failure,  which,  after 
verhearing  the  conversation  under  the  oak,  he  must  have 
nown  was  irremediable.  The  maid  had  never  dared  to 
onfide  the  truth  of  her  discovery  to  her  mistress  until  they 
rere  safely  installed  at  Maple  Hill,  and,  when  she  did  im- 
art  it,  had  joined  to  the  tale  such  confused  details  of  Lily's 
ttempted  elopement,  and  the  scene  between  master  and 
lan  on  the  back  porch,  while  she  cowered  under  the  steps, 
3  awakened  Helen's  amazed  curiosity,  but  not  her  fears. 
low  these  were  recalled,  and  Sally  subjected  to  a  thorough 
xamination.  Upon  sifting  her  evidence,  little  that  was  new 
Duld  be  elicited,  and  she  was  stout  in  her  conviction  that 
iolonel  Floyd,  and  Booker  were  out  "  hunting  runaways" 
rhen  his  ward  was  married. 

Aleck,  reverting  to  his  impression  that  the  note  brought 
y  Gabriel  to  Robert,  on  the  morning  of  their  parting,  was 
ot  directed  by  Helen,  but  Lily,  and  coupling  it  with 
Robert's  declaration  that  he  had  an  appointment  at  ten 
'clock,  was  sure  that  this  assignation  was,  in  some  manner, 
le  plan  by  which  he  was  lured  into  danger  and  destruc- 
on. 

"  If  I  only  had  that  note,  I  feel  assured  that  I  should  hold 
le  key  to  the  whole  mystery,"  he  said,  wistfully.  "  How 

wish  that  I  had  not  obeyed  the  mistaken  delicacy  that 
)rbade  my  questioning  him  as  to  its  contents !" 

"  Do  you  remember  what  he  did  with  it  ?"  asked  Helen. 


484 


"I  cannot  say  with  certainty — but  my  idea  is  that  he  thrusl 
it  into  his  vest  pocket  so  soon  as  he  finished  reading  it." 

"  Aunt  Ruth  told  me  not  long  since,"  said  Helen,  thought 
fully,  "  that  the  hardest  trial  she  had  had,  in  all  the  sorrow 
connected  with  Robert's  departure,  was  sitting  down  in  his 
deserted  room  and  mending  a  vest  he  had  thrown  aside  just 
before  going  out,  Christmas  morning.     She  met  him  on  the; 
stairs  directly  after  breakfast,  and  observing  that  the  vest 
had  lost  a  button,  and  was  frayed  about  the  collar  and  pock 
ets,  advised  him  to  change  it  before  he  went  to  the  court-' 
house.     It  was   not  until  she  visited  his   chamber,  several 
days   afterwards,  to  put  away  his  things,  preparatory  to} 
locking  it  up,  that  she  knew  how  well  he  had  obeyed  her 
injunction.     The  vest  lay  on  the  bureau,  where  he  had  toss 
ed  it  upon  taking  it  off.     She  was  exceedingly  touched  by 
this  proof  of  his  regard  for  her  wishes.     It  may  be  that  the 
Providence  who  has  so  strangely  guided  your  investigations 
thus  far,  may  lead  you  to  further  discoveries  by  means  of  ~ 
this  seemingly  insignificant  incident.     Say  nothing  to  Aunt 
Ruth  about  it.     The  trouble  will  fall  upon  her  soon  enough. 
Wait  for  certainty. 3> 

To  find  this  cast-off  garment,  then,  was  Aleck's  object  in 
revisiting  an  apartment  where  every  thing  he  beheld  aroused 
poignant  grief  and  vain,  bitter  remorse.  The  drawers  at  j 
which  he  began  his  explorations  were  carefully  packed  by 
Aunt  Ruth's  tidy  hands,  and  his,  although  less  skilful,  han 
dled  each  article  with  reverent  tenderness.  A  great  change 
had  come  over  his  thoughts  of  Robert.  In  place  of  the  flush 
of  shame  and  anger  he  had  been  used  to  feel  warm  his 
brow,  at  thought  of  his  disgraceful  flight,  and  the  unmanly 
conduct  that  preceded  it ;  his  supposed  infidelity  and  dupli 
city  ;  the  old  tide  of  fostering  fondness  for  his  young,  hand 
some  brother  joined  with  anguish  at  his  loss,  and  deep  re 
pentance  for  the  rank  injustice  he  had  done  that  gentle, 


485 


noble  spirit,  in  thought  and  speech,  and  swelled  his  heart 
almost  to  bursting.  There  was  no  time  to  be  wasted  in 
unavailing  lamentations,  or  he  must  have  bowed  before  the 
torrent  of  feeling  and  memory  that  flowed  at  sight  of  many 
familiar,  and  now  sacred  relics.  The  homeliest  article  of  ap 
parel — Robert's  hunting  suit,  the  heavy,  muddy  boots  he 
had  worn  upon  their  last  tramp  through  the  low  grounds — 
a  stained  and  shapeless  straw  hat,  discarded  as  past  worthy 
when  the  fishing  season  was  over,  and  left,  forgotten  and 
useless,  hanging  upon  a  peg  in  the  closet ;  these  had  become 
!  most  precious  in  his  sight. 

One  master  emotion  drove  him  onward  in  the  work  to 

!  which  he  believed  destiny  had  appointed  him ;  forced  him 

porward  over  the  graves  of  early  and  dear  association  and 

j.ater  loves;   forbade  the  burning,  bloodshot  eyes  the  in- 

lulgence  of  a  tear — the  aching  heart  the  relief  of  a  sigh. 

Fustice — -justice,   swift  and  awful,  upon  the  head   of  his 

Brother's  destroyer !     He  was  not  malignant  or  vindictive 

)y  nature,  but  he  experienced  a  savage  thrill  of  exultation 

n  the  thought  that  the  bloodhound  Detection  was  ready  to 

;pring  at  the  murderer's  throat, — ready,  and  straining  at 

he  leash,  which  he — the  rightful  avenger  of  blood — held. 

"At  last!" 

He  had  feared  lest  he  might  not  recognize  the  garment  he 
•ought ;  yet  he  knew  it  at  a  glance,  as  it  was  revealed  by 
in  opening  drawer  of  the  wardrobe.  It  lay  uppermost, 
,moothly  folded,  the  wrong  side  out,  but  he  recollected  the 
glossy  black  silk,  and  its  tiny  embroidered  rose-bud,  in  the 
portion  of  the  fabric  composing  the  collar.  He  snatched  it 
ip,  then  stood  for  a  moment,  powerless  to  end  his  anxiety 
:>y  further  examination.  He  had  to  summon  physical  nerve 
rith  moral  resolution  before  he  thrust  his  fingers  in  trem- 
.  »ling  desperation  into  the  pocket.  They  touched  a  paper, 
ragged  it  forth— an  envelope  directed  to  "  Mr.  Robert  Lay, 


486 


Greenfield,"  and  bearing  in  one  corner  the  words — "  by  Ga 
briel."  He  was  obliged  to  sit  down  to  read  it,  he  was  so  ut 
terly  weak.  The  ink  was  very  pale,  the  pen-strokes  delicate. 
An  exclamation  of  extreme  impatience  escaped  him  at  the 
trifling  delay  caused  by  the  necessity  of  approaching  a  win 
dow  before  he  could  decipher  the  few  lines  upon  which 
depended  so  much. 

"  Robert" — he  read — "  I  am  very,  very  sad  to-day,  and 
there  is  no  one  excepting  yourself  to  whom  I  can  speak  of 
my  great  trouble.  It  would  do  me  good,  be  an  unspeaka 
ble  comfort,  if  I  could  have  one,  just  one  more  talk  with  you 
before  there  is  put  between  us  a  barrier  that  must  last  for  a 
lifetime.  Believe  me,  I  am  not  jealous  of  Helen's  superior 
claims.  I  pray  hourly  for  your  happiness  and  hers;  yet  I 
cannot  help  feeling  lonely  now  that  I  am  about  to  lose  my 
brother — my  best — I  had  almost  said,  my  only  friend !  If 
you  have  a  half  hour  to  spare  this  morning,  will  you  notj 
meet  me  at  ten  o'clock  under  the  spruce  pine?  the  pic-nio 
ground,  you  remember !  It  is  not  so  far  from  the  road] 
to  the  court-house  that  you  win  lose  much  time  in  comply 
ing  with  this,  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  bold  request.  I  will 
explain  my  reasons  for  making  it  when  we  meet.  Until 
then,  trust  me  so  far  as  to  believe  them  good  and  sufficient. 
What  I  have  to  say  concerns  you  no  less  than  myself.  Do 
not  disappoint  me !  I  shall  wait  for  you  until  twelve 
o'clock.  Your  fond  sister,  LILY." 

Five  minutes  later,  Aleck  stood  upon  the  piazza  and  shout 
ed  to  a  negro  in  the  stable-yard — 

"Ben!  saddle  Hero,  and  bring  him  around  directly! 
directly !  do  you  hear  ?" 

"  Hero,  did  you  say,  Mars'  Aleck  ?"  said  the  man,  coming 
nearer. 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  487 

"  Hero  !  and  hurry  !  are  you  deaf  ?" 

The  groom  shook  his  head  as  he  disappeared  in  the  stable, 
mplying  that  he  could  say  much  more  on  the  subject  if  he 
?ared  to  risk  further  parley  with  his  impatient  superior. 

While  he  waited,  Aleck  walked  the  porch-floor  fast  and 
uriously ;  gnawed  his  lip,  as  was  his  trick  in  moments  of 
ntense  excitement ;  drew  his  breath  in  hot  pants,  like  a  wild 
inimal  thirsting  for  prey.  Hero  was  led  around  to  the  door, 
i  splendid  creature,  full-blooded  and  thoroughly  trained, 
stepping  high  and  daintily. 

How  poor  Robert  loved  that  horse  !  The  brother's  look 
,vas  not  less  fierce  in  the  recollection,  but  the  pat  upon  the 
irched  neck,  the  word  of  salutation — "  Hero — old  fellow !" 
hat  accompanied  the  hand  caress,  were  signals  of  the  inward 
.bought. 

"He's  dreadful  skittish  now-a-days,  Mars'  Aleck!"  cau- 
ioned  the  hostler,  respectfully.  "  Not  a  man  on  this  place 
lars  to  back  him.  Pears  like  he's  been  bewitched  sence  he 
>vas  fetched  home  from  Rock's  tarvern  !  He  flung  Art'ur 
hree  times  on  de  way  from  dar — as  you  heerd,  may-be. 
Mimthin  or  somebody's  sp'ilt  him  for  good  an'  all — I'm 
ifeard!" 

"  He  won't  throw  me !     Whoa !" 

A  spring  seated  Aleck  in  the  saddle, — the  horse  bounded 
•orward,  and  steed  and  rider  swept  down  the  lane  with  the 
•ush  of  a  whirlwind. 

"  Thar's  a  par  of  'em !"  commented  Ben,  recovering  his 
preath.  "How  Mars'  Aleck's  eyes  did  snap!  Wonder 
that's  crossed  him  now  ?  I'd  rather  meet  de  debbil  on  de 
larkest  night  dat  ever  shone  dan  to  stan  in  his  way  when 
lis  blood  is  up  !" 

It  so  happened  that  the  illustrious  Gabriel  was  at  that 
rery  moment  sauntering  along  the  middle  of  the  high  road, 
n  the  direction  of  Befleview,  snuffing  in  copious  draughts 


488 


of  the  pleasant  air,  and  enjoying  mightily  the  increasing 
warmth  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  his  back.  His  mother,  the 
baker  of  Belleview,  had  had  "poor  luck"  with  her  last  jug 
of  yeast,  and  designing,  on  this  day,  to  repair  the  misfor 
tune,  had,  as  he  discontentedly  phrased  it,  "rousted"  her 
hopeful  son  from  his  bed  at  an  unconscionably  early  hour, 
and  despatched  him  to  a  neighboring  plantation,  to  borrow 
from  a  sister  in  the  profession  a  small  quantity  to  "raise" 
the  fresh  supply.  This  was  the  meaning  of  the  small  tin- 
pail — in  southern  parlance,  "  bucket" — that  dangled  from 
Gabriel's  hand,  and  was  occasionally  whirled  dexterously 
about  his  head  without  a  drop  of  its  contents  being  spilled ; 
for  the  errand-boy  was  an  adept  in  all  arts  of  prestidigita 
tion  that  came  within  the  range  of  his  observation  and 
practice. 

As  he  walked  he  sang,  kicking  up  the  loose  dirt  in  the 
road  with  his  toes ;  stopping,  now  and  then,  in  his  march, 
never  in  his  song,  to  shy  a  stone  at  a  bird,  or  a  bushy  ever 
green  where  bird  or  hare  might  be  hiding. 

"In  old  Kentuck,  in  de  middle  of  a  brake, 
Dar  lives  a  nigger,  an'  dey  call  him  Jake : 
Aroun'  de  wood  his  axe  am  ringin', 
An'  dis  de  song  dat  he  am  singin' : — 

Oh,  whar  did  you  come  from  ? 

Knock  a  nigger  down ! 

Oh,  whar  did  you  come  from  ? 

Knock  a  nigger  down ! 

"Hi!  what  dat?" 

Ballad  and  feet  were  arrested  that  he  might  hearken. 
From  afar  off  came  to  his  ears  the  long,  rapid  gallop  of  a 
strained  or  fiery  horse,  beating  loudly  upon  the  softened 
ground ;  ringing  sharply  against  the  stones. 

"  Somebody  in  a  hurry  soon  in  de  mornin' !"  and  evident 
ly  considering  this  a  ridiculous,  instance  of  non-improvement 


489 


of  the  rights  purchased  by  early  rising,  he  laughed,  and 
went  on  in  the  roundelay : — 

"  Oh,  come,  my  lub,  an'  go  wid  me ! 
"We're  gwine  for  to  leave  dig  back  country; 
Hoss  an'  a  cart  for  to  tote  you  roun', 
"Walk  up  hill  an' — 

"Lor!  ef  'taint  Mars'  Aleck!" 

There  was  a  level  and  straight  stretch  of  road  before 
him,  and  just  entering  this  vista  he  descried  a  horseman  bear 
ing  rapidly  down  towards  him.  Aleck  Lay  had  never  spoken 
unkindly  to  the  boy;  on  the  contrary,  the  graceless  imp 
had  received  from  both  brothers  pleasant  jeste,  friendly 
notice,  and  donations  which  were  innumerable  by  his  arith 
metical  powers.  There  was  no  conceivable  reason  why  he 
should  fear  to  encounter  either  of  them,  if  his  conscience 
were  void  of  offence  as  was  their  conduct — yet  he  stood 
stock  still  for  an  instant,  eyes  starting  from  their  sockets, 
staring  at  the  advancing  terror ; — then,  seized,  as  braver 
men — ay,  and  brave  armies  have  been  since — by  an  un 
reasoning  panic,  he  darted  to  the  road-side  fence,  scrambled 
over  it,  and  scampered  across  the  field  beyond,  fast  as  his 
legs  could  carry  and  fear  could  drive  him. 

"  Hallo — there  !  Gabriel !  I  want  to  speak  to  you !" 
called  Aleck,  who  by  this  time  was  near  enough  to  identify 
the  flying  figure. 

Gabriel  ran  on  the  faster,  looking  over  his  shoulder  to  see 
whether  he  were  followed ;  and,  irritated  at  his  contumacy, 
Aleck  put  Hero  at  the  fence,  cleared  it,  and  galloped  over 
the  fallow  ground  upon  the  fugitive's  track.  A  race  so  un 
equal  could  not  last  long. 

"  Stop  !  you  scoundrel !  or  I  will  ride  you  down !"  came 
so  distinctly  to  the  boy's  ear  that  he  again  glanced  back,  to 
calculate  his  chances  for  gaining  the  next  and  a  higher- 
fence. 

21* 


490  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WABDS. 

Not  a  dozen  yards  in  his  rear  was  his  pursuer ;  his  orbs 
of  fire  seemed  to  scorch  his  sight,  even  in  that  brief  glimpse; 
before  he  could  run  ten  steps  further,  the  horse,  whose 
streaming  mane,  glaring  eyeballs,  and  open  mouth,  gave  him 
the  aspect  of  a  demon,  would  be  upon  him.  He  yelled  with 
affright,  and  dropped  prone  upon  the  earth. 

"  You  young  villain !"  Aleck  leaned  from  his  saddle, 
and  grasping  the  boy  by  the  collar,  dragged  him  to  his  feet. 
"  You  audacious  rascal !  what  do  you  mean  by  running 
away  from  me  when  I  order  you  to  stop  ?" 

"  Lor'  a  massy,  Mars'  Aleck!  is  it  you?  I  'clar  'fore  gra 
cious  I  thought  'was  an  evil !  I  'most  skeered  out  of  my 
senses  !"  stuttered  the  victim,  affecting  the  uttermost  aston 
ishment. 

His  captor  was  in  no  humor  to  be  amused. 

"  If  I  served  you  right,  I  would  flog  you  soundly !"  he 
pursued,  giving  him  an  admonitory  shake,  under  which  Ga 
briel  staggered  more  than  was  at  all  necessary.  "  You 
knew  me  perfectly  well  before  you  started  to  run.  If  you 
want  to  save  your  bones,  tell  me  the  exact  truth  in  answer 
to  the  questions  I  am  about  to  ask  you." 

"  Yes,  sar !"  Gabriel  surveyed  the  heavy  hunting-whip 
in  the  rider's  hand  with  an  air  of  serious  reflection. 

"  You  brought  a  letter  to  Mr.  Robert  Lay,  on  Christmas 
morning.  Who  sent  it  ?" 

"  How  was  I  to  know,  Mars'  Aleck  ?"  whimpered  the 
hypocrite,  the  picture  of  aggrieved  innocence.  "I  didn't  see 
it  wrote." 

"  Who  gave  it  to  you  ?"  Aleck  tightened  his  hold  on  the 
collar  and  raised  his  whip.  "  I'm  not  to  be  trifled  with,  boy !" 

Gabriel  studied  the  lowering  visage  above  him, 

"  If  you  won't  tell  on  me,  sir !  Dey  said  dey  would  kill 
me  ef  I  let  on  a  word,  an'  what  dey  says,  dey  will  do,  Mars' 
Aleck!" 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS.  491 

"  So  will  I !  you  may  be  sure  of  that !  What  did  you  do 
with  the  letter  Miss  Helen  sent  by  you,  which  you  promised 
so  faithfully  to  carry  safely  ?" 

"  Wasn't  dat  de  same  I  gave  to  Mars'  Robert  ?"  letting 
his  under  jaw  drop,  and  looking  as  like  a  fool  as  he  could. 

"  I  shall  have  to  do  it,  I  see  !" 

Aleck  jumped  from  his  horse  and  clutched  the  liar's  arm, 
his  mien  so  full  of  wrathful  determination  that  the  last  spark 
of  Gabriel's  audacity  expired. 

"  Ef  you  jes  won't,  sir,  I  will  tell  you  ah1 — every  single 
thing  !"  he  begged,  quaking  with  fear.  "  Marster,  he  nab 
bed  me  in  de  stable,  while  I  was  gettin'  de  horse  ready, 
an  says  he,  c  Gi'  me  de  letter !'  and  fore  I  knowed  whar  I 
was,  Mars'  Aleck,  he  had  it  in  his  hand,  an  says  he  to 
daddy,  who  had  come  in  arter  him — '  Keep  him  here  till  I 
come  back !'  and  he  went  to  de  house.  Byme-by,  here  he 
come,  wid  anudder  letter,  or  maybe  de  same — I  can't  read, 
you  member,  Mars'  Aleck — an  tells  me  to  ride  like  fury 
over  to  Greenfield  an  'liver  it,  an  ef  I  ever  breathed  a  word 
of  what  he  said  or  done  he'd  make  mince-meat  of  me ;  and 
daddy  says,  '  Ef  you  open  yer  ugly  mouth  'bout  dis  I'll 
mash  it  in  for  you;' — an  what  was  a  poor  feller  to  do, 
Mars'  Aleck  ?  Miss  Helen,  she  can  tell  you  how  bad  I  felt 
when  she  talked  to  me  so  kind  dat  day,  an  I  didn't  dar',  for 
my  life,  to  let  her  know  how  I.  had  'ceived  her.  I'm  sure  I 
allers  set  a  deal  of  store  by  Miss  Helen." 

"  And  that  is  ah1  you  have  to  say  ?"  interrupted  Aleck. 
"To  whom  did  you  give  the  note  Mr.  Robert  Lay  sent 
back  by  your  hand  ?" 

"  To  daddy,"  the  boy  confessed,  shame-facedly.  "  He  was 
waitin'  for  me  at  de  fur  gate,  an  I  dar'sn't  say  'no'  to  him  when 
he  speaks  his  mind.  He  gi'  me  orders  as  how  I  was  to  tell 
Miss  Helen  dat  Mars'  Robert  hadn't  wrote  .nothin',  but  jes  said 
'  All's  right,'  an  I  stuck  to  de  story,  as  Miss  Helen  knows." 


492 


"  That  is  all  now,  is  it?"  interposed  Aleck,  as  before. 

"  Every  thing,  sir !  I  clar  fore  gracious  I  don't  know 
nothin'  besides,  and  I  never  told  a  lie  in  my  born  days,  only 
'cept  that  once — " 

His  auditor  had  other  work  before  him  than  staying  to 
remind  the  pattern  of  juvenile  veracity  of  the  array  of  fibs 
he  had  endeavored  to  palm  off  upon  him  five  minutes  pre 
vious  to  this  solemn  asseveration.  It  was  not  certain  that  he 
heard  any  part  of  it  beyond  the  first  section,  for,  before  it 
was  finished,  he  was  scouring  the  field,  at  full  speed,  to 
wards  the  highway.  Gabriel  stood  motionless  and  agape 
until  he  saw  Hero  leap  the  fence  and  the  centaur-like  figure 
vanish,  with  meteor  swiftness,  at  a  curve  in  the  road. 

Then  he  remarked,  with  philosophical  coolness — 

"Dat  ar'  horse  is  done  some  fox-huntin'  in  his  day,  I 
reckon !"  and  bethought  himself  of  his  pail  of  yeast. 

Not  a  drop  remained  in  the  fallen  vessel ; — worse  than 
that !  Hero  had  put  his  iron  foot  upon  it  and  crushed  it — 
to  borrow  Gabriel's  simile — "  flat  as  a  pan-cake,"  cover  and 
all !  Here  was  a  predicament !  Explanation  of  some  kind 
was  unavoidable,  and  a  flogging  equally  inevitable.  The 
only  question  that  remained  for  his  fertile  genius  to  work 
upon  during  the  melancholy  stroll  homewards,  was  wheth 
er  the  aforesaid  flagellation  would  be  lighter  if  he  made  a 
partial  confession  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  or  if  he  plied  his 
maternal  parent  with  an  entirely  original  version  of  the 
accident. 

To  these  perplexing  lucubrations  we  are  compelled  to 
leave  him,  that  we  may  follow  the  proceedings  of  a  more 
interesting  personage. 


493 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

ABOUT  noon  of  the  same  day,  a  party  of  four  horsemen 
halted  in  the  public  route  to  the  Court  House,  at  the 
entrance — if  entrance  it  could  be  called — to  a  disused  cart- 
road  which  led  into  the  Belleview  woods.  There  were  still 
"  draw  bars,"  that  is,  rails,  that  could  be  slipped  back 
through  their  openings  in  their  supporting  posts — marking 
the  spot  where  vehicles — wood-carts  and  farm-wagons — 
were  once  wont  to  pass  in,  but  they  were  now  moss-grown 
and  decayed,  and  sumach  and  huckleberry  bushes  grew 
thickly  on  the  other  side.  None  of  the  band  hesitated, 
however,  to  follow  their  leader  when  he  tore  the  rotten 
rails  from  their  rests,  and,  remounting,  rode  boldly  past  the 
sign-board — a  new  and  staring  one,  that  forbade  trespassing 
"  under  the  severest  penalty  of  the  law."  One  pointed  this 
out  silently  to  another  as  they  entered  the  gap,  and  the 
exchange  of  looks  was  pregnant  with  meaning. 

"That  was  put  up  the  first  week  in  January,''  said  a 
third.  "  A  queer  time  to  warn  off  poachers.  Especially 
when  there  is  no  game  worth  shooting  in  these  woods  at 
any  season!"  said  his  companion. 

The  fourth  man  said  nothing — only  pushed  on  deeper 
into  the  forest.  He  knew  well  the  position  of  the  "  Spruce- 
pine"  and  the  "  old  picnic  ground."  The  tree,  the  solitary 
specimen  of  the  kind  in  the  vicinity,  stood  on  the  verge  of 
a  little  glade,  a  natural  break  in  the  wood,  turfy,  and  not 
too  densely  shaded,  where,  years  ago,  the  young  people  for 


494 


miles  around  had  held  a  sylvan  fete — a  bounteous  dinner, 
and  a  dance  on  the  grass  that  lasted  until  dark.  Robert 
had  danced  with  Lily  Calvert  more  frequently  than  with 
any  other  girl  there,  and  Helen  was  oftenest  his  brother's 
partner.  How  strangely  the  vision  of  the  holiday  scene 
arose  before  the  latter  now,  bent,  as  he  was,  upon  a  mission 
so  fearfully  at  variance  with  the  events  of  that  midsummer 
day ! 

He  was  diverted  from  his  saddened  musings  by  the  ex 
traordinary  conduct  of  his  horse.  He  had  ridden  Hero 
that  morning  at  Helen's  desire.  She  fancied  that  she  would 
be  able  to  decide,  upon  seeing  him  now,  whether  he  were 
the  animal  Booker  rode  upon  that  momentous  Christmas 
day ;  and  although,  after  hearing  Gabriel's  story,  Aleck  had 
not  deemed  it  necessary  to  afford  her  an  opportunity  to 
apply  this  test  to  her  memory,  he  had  not  cared,  or  indeed 
thought,  to  exchange  the  steed  for  his  own  riding-horse. 
He  had  gone  by  the  most  direct  road  to  the  Court  House, 
laid  his  story  before  a  magistrate,  obtained  a  search-warrant, 
and  authority  to  arrest  the  suspected  man  ;  collected  a  few 
friends  in  whose  zeal  and  discretion  he  could  confide — the 
magistrate  asking  permission  to  be  one  of  the  number — and 
having  despatched  a  line  to  Maple  Hill,  to  allay  the  solicitude 
his  wife  might  feel  at  his  prolonged  absence,  had  set  out 
for  the  spot  designated  in  Lily's  note.  They  had  quitted 
the  faint  wheel-ruts  that  marked  the  windings  of  the  old 
road  several  minutes  before,  and  were  making  their  way, 
still  piloted  by  Aleck,  in  the  direction  of  the  spruce-tree, 
when  Hero  stopped  short,  threw  up  his  head,  and  uttered 
a  shrill  neigh — a  sound  so  expressive  of  terror,  so  like  a 
human  utterance  of  fear  or  anguish,  that  it  thrilled  every 
heart. 

"Is  this  the  place?"  asked  one  of  the  party,  in  an  awed 
whisper,  riding  up  close  to  Aleck's  side. 


COL<WEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  495 

"  No  I  it  is  fully  a  hundred  yards  off!  On,  sir !"  he  urged 
the  animal,  and  mad  with  impatience,  forgetting  that  it  was 
Robert's  horse,  and  entitled  to  all  gentleness  of  treatment  at 
his  hands,  he  struck  him  sharply  with  the  whip.  Hero  rear 
ed  once,  then  stood  like  a  rock,  his  fore-feet  planted  deep  in 
the  damp,  woody  soil,  ears  pointed  forward,  eyes  dilate,  and 
nostrils  quivering  widely — the  picture  of  mortal  fear. 

"There  is  something  in  this,  Lay!"  said  the  magistrate — 
a  grave,  judicious  man,  whom  no  one  had  ever  accused  of 
excitability  of  imagination  or  a  too  ready  credulity.  "  Gen 
tlemen,  if  you  please,  we  will  examine  this  ground  before 
going  further !" 

Every  man  was  upon  his  feet  in  a  moment.  The  under 
growth  was  thick  thereabouts,  and  they  literally  crawled 
upon  their  hands  and  knees  in  their  anxiety  to  make  the 
search  thorough.  Stones  were  upturned ;  leaves  swept  away, 
that  the  bare  earth  might  testify  of  any  recent  disturbance ; 
broken  twigs  and  boughs  inspected ;  but  the  keenest  eyes 
discerned  nothing  unusual,  nothing  that  varied  from  the 
ordinary  aspect  of  a  winter  forest. 

Leaving  their  horses,  they  went  on  foot  to  the  natural 
clearing  marked  by  the  evergreen  spruce,  and  there  the  ex 
amination  was,  if  possible,  more  narrowly  vigilant,  and  with 
a  like  result.  There  was  absolutely  naught  to  indicate  that 
any  deed  of  violence  had  ever  marred  the  peaceful  quiet  of 
the  pretty  glade.  The  sun  shone  brightly  upon  the  young 
turf,  already  sprouting  under  the  genial  skies  ;  and  warm 
breezes  of  the  past  week ;  there  were  birds  twittering  in 
the  naked  branches  above  their  heads ;  and  as  they  drew  to 
gether  in  the  centre  of  the  grass-plot,  for  conference  upon 
the  next  best  step  to  be  taken,  a  hare,  the  most  timid  of 
forest-bred  creatures,  scudded  by  on  her  way  to  her  not 
distant  form. 

"  We  must  make  the  arrest  without  additional  evidence, 


496  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAKDS. 

gentlemen  !"  decided  Mr.  Reverdy,  the  magistrate.  "Colo 
nel  Floyd's  possession  of  the  watch  and  bonds  must  be  ac 
counted  for,  and  the  matter  of  the  supposed  forgery  cleared 
up,  before  we  can  lawfully  or  conscientiously  abandon  the 
task  we  have  undertaken." 

"  It  will  be  a  bad  business  for  us  all  if  he  gets  clear,  after 
we;  have  brought  so  serious  a  charge,"  demurred  one  of  the 
quartette — a  nervous,  cautious  man,  and  a  near  neighbor  of 
the  Floyds.  "The  colonel  is  a  troublesome  customer  to 
manage,  when  his  blood  is  up.  I  shouldn't  relish  being  at 
enmity  with  him,  if  he  is  to  go  at  large.  He  never  forgives 
an  affront." 

"Then,  Mr.  Dickson,  you  had  better  not  accompany  us !" 
rejoined  Mr.  Reverdy,  in  calm  contempt.  "For  my  own 
part,  I  shall  probe  this  affair  to  the  bottom,  at  any  and  every 
cost  to  myself.  If  no  one  else  will  go  with  us,  Mr.  Lay  and 
myself  will  serve  the  warrant.  Shall  we  return  to  our 
horses  ?" 

Murmuring  something  to  the  effect  that  he  had  been 
"misunderstood,"  and  that  he  was  as  " little  afraid  as  any 
other  man,"  Mr.  Dickson  walked  back  with  the  rest. 

"  Lay  !  this  is  certainly  very  singular !"  said  the  foremost 
of  them,  going  up  to  Hero  and  laying  his  hand  upon  his 
neck. 

The  poor  beast  was  covered  with  sweat,  and  shook  in 
every  joint.  He  responded  to  the  friendly  touch  by  another 
frightened  neigh, — wild  and  piercing  as  the  former;  and 
when  Aleck  took  him  by  the  head  to  lead  him  on  again, 
struck  his  hoofs  deep  into  the  earth  and  pulled  back  with 
all  his  might.  They  all  gathered  about  him,  in  wonder 
ment  and  inquiry.  Aleck  was  the  first  to  remark  that  the 
creature  paid  no  attention  to  their  movements ;  that  his  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  a  cluster  of  saplings  not  four  feet  off.  This 
they  had  examined  more  than  once  in  their  fruitless  quest, 


497 


but  the  change  in  his  features  now  directed  the  attention  of 
the  others  to  the  place. 

"  There  are  no  pine-trees  near  !  Those  are  hickory  sap 
lings  !  Why  should  the  ground  under  them  be  covered 
with  pine-needles !" 

The  exclamation  acted  like  an  electric  shock.  All  sprang 
forward  to  the  work  of  clearing  away  the  thick  brown  cov 
ering.  It  was  several  inches  in  depth,  and  looked  as  if 
swine  had  been  bedded  there  during  the  cold  weather — an 
illusion  that  had  completely  imposed  upon  the  search-party, 
until  they  observed  that  the  leaves  could  not  have  fallen 
from  the  trees  above ;  and  the  improbability  that  they  had 
been  brought  from  a  distance  for  such  a  purpose,  when  the 
herd  could  as  well  have  been  littered  under  the  pines  them 
selves,  presented  itself  to  every  mind.  A  hoe,  spade,  and 
pickaxe  were  hastily  produced  from  a  bag  which  was  lashed 
to  the  front  of  Hero's  saddle,  and  while  three  used  these  to 
rake  off  the  matted  needles,  the  fourth  scraped  it  aside  with 
his  bare  hands. 

It  was  removed  in  less  time  than  it  has  taken  to  describe 
the  process,  and  there  remained  exposed  a  considerable  area 
of  lighter  color  than  the  black,  rich  soil  around  it,  as  if  the 
earth  had  been  carefully  spread  over  a  wide  space,  to  avoid 
the  appearance  of  elevation  in  any  one  spot.  Near  the 
middle  of  this  was  plainly  visible  a  sunken  spot,  long  and 
narrow,  and  perfectly  regular  in  outline.  Not  a  word  was 
uttered,  of  command  or  remark,  as  each  of  the  three  men 
bent  to  his  work,  and  dug  as  if  his  own  life  or  death  de 
pended  upon  his  diligence. 

Of  the  three !  The  spade  had  fallen  from  the  nerveless 
hand  of  the  fourth,  and  his  next  neighbor,  he  who  had 
labored  with  his  fingers  only,  caught  it  ere  it  touched  the 
ground,  and  struck  it  boldly  into  the  soil.  Sick  with  horror, 
Aleck  leaned  against  a  tree,  and  watched  the  rapidly 


498 


deepening  chasm  at  his  feet ; — noted  the  signs  of  a  former 
excavation,  in  the  leaves  and  sticks  mingled  with  the  earth 
they  cast  np.  Would  they  have  to  dig  far  down  ? — and  if 
so,  would  his  strength  and  reason  endure  this  racking  sus 
pense  until  they  reached  it  ? 

The  pit  was  already  two  feet  deep,  and  the  dirt  lay  com 
pact  as  ever,  settled  by  the  snows  and  rains  of  two  long 
winter  months.  Three  feet !  they  worked  well !  Four ! — 
they  must  be  nearing  it. 

Ha !  how  carelessly  that  man  plunged  the  pick-axe  up  to 
the  helve !  Had  he  no  thought  of  what  he  might  strike — 
into  what  substance  the  keen,  cruel  point  might  sink  at  any 
moment !  Again  he  swung  the  implement  in  the  air — and 
Aleck  seized  his  arm  convulsively  when  he  would  have 
brought  it  down. 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Dickson !  be  careful !  you  cannot  be 
far  from  it  now!"  he  cried,  harshly. 

None  of  the  excited  laborers  had  realized  their  exact 
position  before ;  but  they  eyed  the  dimensions  of  the  pit 
now  with  careful,  wondering  attention,  and  the  man  who 
wielded  the  pick  stepped  one  side  and  laid  down  the  dan 
gerous  instrument.  The  others  kept  on  with  their  task} 
but  delved  warily,  more  slowly — scraping  instead  of  dig 
ging.  The  tedious  process,  necessary  as  he  felt  it  to  be — 
their  expression  of  watchfulness  as  each  spadeful  was  re 
moved — were  more  horrible  than  ah1  that  had  gone  be 
fore. 

"  This  is  dying  by  inches  !"  he  whispered  to  Dickson,  who 
stood  at  his  side ;  and  he  put  up  his  hand  to  wipe  away  the 
cold  beads  that,  dripping  from  his  forehead,  were  literally 
blinding  him. 

"My  God!" 

The  low  cry  broke  from  one  of  the  workmen,  and  at  the 
same  instant  Dickson  clutched  Aleck's  shoulder,  dragged 


499 


him  some  paces  before  he  could  recover  from  his  surprise  at 
the  movement. 

"  You  must  not  see  this,  Lay  !  indeed  you  must  not !"  re 
monstrated  the  neighbor,  withstanding,  with  friendly 
violence,  Aleck's  struggles  to  escape  from  his  hold.  "  Sit 
here !"  He  pushed  him  down  upon  the  trunk  of  a  fallen 
tree — "  Sit  here,  until  I  go  and  see  whether  it  is  best  for 
you  to  be  there  !" 

Misled  by  the  apparent  obedience  of  his  charge,  he  ran 
back  to  the  grave. 

A  grave,  in  truth,  it  was,  and  within  it  a  figure,  from 
whose  features  gentle  hands  were  that  moment  withdrawing 
the  only  shield  between  it  and  the  earth — a  coarse,  gray 
blanket  spread  over  the  body,  after  the  manner  of  a  pall. 
Unchanged,  save  by  the  pallor  of  death,  he  slept  there 
peacefully,  as  if  loving,  and  not  bloody  hands  had  laid  him 
down  to  his  long  rest ;  as  if  a  costly  coffin  had  sheltered  his 
mortal  frame  from  the  contaminating  touch  of  his  mother 
earth,  and  costly  marble  sought  to  immortalize  his  name  and 
memory. 

A  hollow  groan  caused  the  beholders  to  look  up,  and 
Aleck  Lay's  white  face  was  seen  leaning  forward  beside  Mr. 
Dickson's,  turned  for  one  second  to  the  blue,  smiling  heavens, 
and  his  arms  were  tossed  aloft,  none  doubted,  in  agonized  in 
vocation  of  Divine  vengeance  upon  the  murderer ;  then,  he 
spoke  in  accents  more  stern  than  sad — 

"  Lift  him  out !  Mr.  Dickson,  your  house  is  nearest ;  will 
you  ride  over  and  send  some  conveyance  in  which  the  body 
can  be  carried  to  Maple  Hill  ?  Frank !  you  will  stay  here 
until  he  returns,  then  gallop  ahead,  and  prepare  my  wife  for 
what  she  must  see — that  is,  if  I  am  not  at  home  myself  by 
that  time.  I  will  exchange  horses  with  you ;  I  think  that  mine 
will  follow  him.  Mr.  Reverdy,  if  you  are  ready,  we  will 
go  direct  to  Belleview." 


500 


They  left  the  corpse  upon  a  bed,  hurriedly  made  of  dry 
leaves — a  cloak  wrapped  about  it  and  concealing  it,  save 
where  one  curl  of  fair  hair,  escaping  from  the  folds,  caught 
the  reflection  of  the  afternoon  sun — Frank  Travis,  a  cousin 
of  the  Lays,  and  Robert's  bosom  friend,  and  the  faithful 
Hero,  its  only  guards. 

NOTE. — It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  that  nearly 
every  incident  relative  to  Robert  Lay's  murder  had  its 
counterpart  in  a  case  which  came  within  range  of  the  au 
thor's  personal  observation.  The  most  important  variations 
in  the  history,  as  here  narrated,  are  the  needful  changes  of 
dates,  names,  and  locality.  No  portion  of  the  story  is  more 
authentic  than  the  phenomenon  of  Hero's  behavior  when 
in  the  vicinage  of  the  hidden  grave,  and  the  discovery  of 
the  body  as  a  direct  sequence  of  the  horse's  remarkable 
conduct. 


501 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

COLONEL  FLOYD'S  horse  and  buggy  were  at  the  door  that 
morning  at  an  unusually  early  hour.  He  had  business  to 
transact  with  a  man  who  lived  ten  or  twelve  miles  off,  and 
he  grumbled  loudly  at  his  wife's  negligence,  and  cursed  the 
cook's  laziness  in  not  having  breakfast  precisely  at  half-past 
seven,  according  to  the  mandate  he  had  issued  over  night. 

"  Lily,  my  love,  you  are  eating  nothing  !"  said  Mrs.  Floyd, 
solicitously,  as  she  witnessed  her  niece's  want  of  application 
to  the  tempting  repast. 

"  I  am  doing  very  well,  thank  you,  mamma !"  and  the 
girl  made  a  feint  of  using  her  knife  arid  fork. 

"  Colonel !  I  wish  you  would  call  at  Dr.  Bryan's  as  you 
are  passing  through  the  village,  and  ask  him  to  drop  in  to 
see  her,"  pursued  the  aunt. 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you  ?"  snarled  the  master  of 
the  household,  addressing  Lily. 

"  Nothing,  sir.  I  feel  quite  well — the  warm  weather 
makes  me  a  little  languid — that  is  all !"  she  answered. 

But  the  slight  agitation  occasioned  by  his  harsh,  abrupt 
query,  brought  a  tremor  to  her  lips  and  tears  into  the  large 
eyes,  now  sadly  sunken  and  unnaturally  bright. 

Her  uncle  scrutinized  her  sneeringly. 

"  Which  means  that  you  are  lovesick,  and  have  the 
vapors !  Vastly  pretty  and  interesting  these  look  to  young 
er  men,  but  I  don't  believe  that  Dr.  Bryan  will  admire 
them  any  more  than  I  do.  I  sha'n't  be  home  to  dinner, 


502 


Mrs.  Floyd,"  and  having  made  these  affectionate  adieux,  he 
stalked  out. 

"  Nine  o'clock !  What  is  that  confoundedly  slow  fellow 
lagging  about  now,  I  wonder  ?"  he  uttered,  stamping  upon 
the  front  steps.  "  Dick  !"  he  hailed  a  boy  in  the  kitchen 
door.  "  Tell  Booker  I  am  waiting  for  him.  Make  haste, 
you  rascal !  Do  y»ou  hear  ?" 

"  Yes,  sar !" 

The  colonel  waited,  nevertheless,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
more,  when  the  dilatory  factotum  emerged  from  his  dwel 
ling,  at  one  side  of  the  yard,  and  came  towards  his  irate 
master. 

"  Come,  Booker  !"  called  the  latter,  in  a  milder  tone  than 
he  would  have  employed  towards  any  other  person  guilty 
of  the  heinous  offence  of  delaying  a  departure  he  designed 
should  have  been  immediate  upon  the  termination  of  his 
morning  meal. 

Booker  drove  him  everywhere,  now-a-days.  Since  his 
apoplectic  attack  in  December,  Colonel  Floyd  seemed 
distrustful  of  his  continued  physical  vigor  or  mental  sound 
ness.  Booker  had  accompanied  him  during  a  week's  ab 
sence  in  January — a  journey  whose  direction  and  intent  were 
not  revealed  to  his  own  wife — which,  Aleck  had  accident 
ally  discovered,  extended  as  far  as  Baltimore.  The  negro 
was  not  remiss  in  the  improvement  of  the  privileges  accru 
ing  to  him  from  his  superior's  partiality  or  conscious  weak 
ness.  He  lorded  it  with  a  high,  hard  hand  over  his  subjects 
— nominal  and  real — upon  the  estate,  beginning,  some  were 
bold  enough  to.  whisper,  at  the  haughty  proprietor  of  the 
manor. 

"  It  is  half-past  nine,  Booker  !  and  we  have  a  long  jaunt 
before  us." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  but  I  should  like  to  have  a  word  with  you 
first,"  replied  the  man,  coolly,  motioning  his  master  further 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  503 

away  from  the  porch  to  a  position  upon  the  lawn,  where 
nothing  they  said  could  be  overheard  by  the  inmates  of  the 
house. 

Colonel  Floyd  followed,  submissive  as  a  child. 

"  If  you  take  my  advice,  sir,  you  will  get  ready  for  a 
very  long  jaunt,"  said  the  confidant,  meaningly.  "  If  I 
ain't  mightily  mistaken,  there's  mischief  in  the  wind — and 
a  deal  of  it !" 

"  Mischief!  of  what  kind  ?" 

"  The  worst  that  could  come  'pon  you,  sir ;  I'd  better  not 
mention  it,  even  though  there's  nobody  near  enough  to  hear. 
Jeff  Martin  was  here  betimes  this  mornin',  to  say  as  how 
Mr.  Aleck  Lay  stopped  at  his  house  yesterday,  on  his  way 
back  from  Baltimore,  and  scared  Jeff's  wife — he  was  from 
home  himself — into  confessin'  that  I  had  left  a  strange  horse 
thar,  Christmas  day.  The  woman  wouldn't  allow  to  Jeff 
that  she  had  told  any  thing,  but  one  of  the  children  was 
listenin',  and  let  on  to  his  father  wThat  a  fine  gentleman  she 
had  had  for  a  visitor.  Jeff  gave  her  a  proper  lesson  how  to 
hold  her  tongue  hereafter,  you  may  be  sure,  but  that  didn't 
undo  what  was  done." 

"Well?" 

Colonel  Floyd — his  complexion  purple-gray — was  biting 
his  nails,  and  grinding  his  heel  into  the  turf,  in  a  frenzy  of 
anxiety. 

Booker's  tone  and  look  were  dull  to  stolidity. 

"  That's  one  item,  sir.  Another  that  I've  just  picked  up 
is,  that  Mr.  Aleck  Lay  overtook  that  bpy  of  mine,  Gabriel, 
on  the  road,  about  an  hour,  or  may-be  an  hour  and  a  half 
ago,  rid  him  down,  and  flogged  him  within  an  inch  of  his 
life,  till  the  young  fool  was  obliged  to  tell  him  that  the  letter 
he  carried  to  Greenfield  before  breakfast,  Christmas  morn 
ing,  wasn't  the  same  Mr.  Lay's  wife  that  is  now — Miss  Hel 
en  that  was — had  given  him.  The  boy  swears  this  was  all 


504  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

that  he  got  out  of  .h;m,  and  considerin'  that  I've  been  thrash- 
in'  him  for  half  an  hour,  off  and  on,  to  find  out  the  truth,  it 
may  be  as  he  says.  Now,  sir,  I  think  you'll  'gree  with  me 
when  I  say  that,  in  my  'pinion,  Mr.  Lay  has  struck  a  danger 
ous  scent — one  that'll  most  likely  bring  him  this  way  before 
night,  and  you'd  better  not  be  found  too  easy.  Eight  miles' 
ride  will  take  you  to  the  ferry,  and  by  going  six  miles  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  you  will  strike  the  railroad.  I've 
got  no  more  advice  to  give,  'cept  that  you'd  better  have  a 
few  clothes  and  a  plenty  of  money  along.  It's  lucky  you're 
not  short  of  cash  just  now — and  oh !  before  I  forget  it,  col 
onel — you'd  as  well  leave  me  a  hundred  or  so,  for  family  ex 
penses,  while  you're  gone." 

The  unsurpassed  effrontery  of  this  address  in  the  mouth 
of  a  menial — the  fellow's  bold,  insolent  visage,  and  disregard 
of  all  the  forms  of  respect  he  had  hitherto  affected  to  ob 
serve  in  his  master's  presence,  passed  unobserved  by  his 
horror-stricken  auditor.  Filled  with  one  overwhelming 
conviction ;  to  wit,  that  his  sin  had  found  him  out,  and  that 
his  one  chance  of  safety  lay  in  precipitate  flight — a  disorder 
ed  recollection  of  his  conversation  with  Aleck  Lay  upon  the 
preceding  day,  combining  with  Booker's  revelations,  to 
heighten  his  dismay,  he  ran  up  to  his  room,  his  so-called 
servitor  at  his  heels ,  with  his  assistance,  packed  a  valise 
with  clothing ;  took  from  his  secretary  bank-notes  and  gold 

to  a  large  amount — how  obtained,  the  cashier  of  the 

bank,  Baltimore,  could  have  told — secreted  these  about  his 
person ;  in  blind,  obedient  haste,  placed  in  Booker's  hands 
the  sum  he  required,  and  they  were  back  again  upon  the 
piazza,  in  the  buggy,  and  driving  off  ere  any  member  of  the 
family  discovered  that  they  had  not  set  out  at  the  hour 
originally  appointed. 

"  Colonel !"  screamed  Mrs.  Floyd,  hastening  out  from  the 
dining-room. 


505 


Booker  reined  up,  and  the  meek  spouse  bustled  down  the 
steps  to  the  side  of  the  vehicle. 

"  My  love,  Lily  would  like  to  go  to  the  court-house  this 
forenoon,  just  for  the  ride,  you  know,  and  I  think  the  air 
and  exercise  will  do  her  good.  Can  she  have  the  carriage 
and  Simon  ?" 

"She  and  you  can  go  to  perdition,  if  you  like!"  foamed 
her  husband.  "  Stand  back  !  Drive  on,  Booker !"" 

The  whip  was  not  spared  during  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  journey,  nor  was  there  much  conversation  between 
the  travellers  so  long  as  they  were  in  their  own  proper 
neighborhood,  regarded  by  them  as  peculiarly  perilous. 
They  were  within  sight  of  the  river,  when  Colonel  Floyd 
inquired : 

"  What  do  you  intend  doing,  Booker  ?" 

"  I  shall  go  back  home,  sir,"  with  a  flourish  of  the  lash 
about  the  horse's  ears. 

"  Won't  that  be  unsafe  ?" 

"  For  me,  do  you  mean,  sir  ?" 

"Certainly.  You  may  be  taken  up  as  an  accomplice. 
Had  you  not  better  stay  with  me  ?" 

"  No,  sir/99  returned  the  man,  impudently.  "  That  would 
be  the  unsafest  course  for  us  both !  Why,  it  would  double 
the  chances  of  being  caught !  'Twould  be  the  easiest  thing 
in  creation  to  track  a  gentleman  travellin'  with  a  body- 
servant.  I  shall  go  home,  as  I  said,  may-be  hide  for  a  day 
or  two,  until  I  find  out  what  is  really  in  the  wind,  and  if  I 
must  clear  out,  I  sha'n't  run  in  the  same  direction  you've 
done.  If  I'm  took,  that's  the  worst  thing  that  can  happen, 
you  know,  sir.  There's  no  proof,  sech  as  inconvenient  pa 
pers  and  the  like,  against  me" 

Colonel  Floyd  writhed  in  his  seat. 

"  You  will  not  turn  informer,  Booker  ?    That  would  be  a 
bad  day  for  you,  my  man !" 
22 


506 


The  negro  half  laughed  at  the  impotent  menace;  the 
ludicrous  pretence  of  the  power  of  revenge  from  one  so 
completely  in  his  power.  The  sneer  made  that  moment  the 
most  humiliating — save  one — of  Colonel  Floyd's  existence, 
yet  he  could  not  resent  the  insult. 

"  As  to  the  matter  of  that,  Colonel  Floyd,  we  won't  argue 
who  would  be  worst  hurt  by  what  I  could  tell.  But  make 
yourself  easy,  sir.  My  evidence  could  not  hang  you — " 

"Hush!" 

The  other  started  at  the  word,  and  looked  around  to  be 
sure  no  one  was  within  hearing  distance. 

"  Could  not  injure  you  very  badly,  I  mean,  sir — I  am  a 
colored  slave — you  a  free  white  man" — with  a  scornful 
emphasis.  "  They  wouldn't  swear  me  in  a  court  of  justice, 
sir." 

It  was  pitch  dark  when  Booker  re-entered  the  outer  gate 
of  the  Belle  view  plantation.  He  had  contrived  his  journey 
so  as  to  arrive  at  home  under  the  shadow  of  night.  The 
sky  was  cloudy ;  the  air  misty.  Better  opportunity  of  con 
cealing  his  approach  could  not  have  been  desired ;  and 
congratulating  himself  upon  these,  he  drove  carefully  down 
the  middle  of  the  road,  eyes  and  ears  on  the  qui  vive  for 
any  suspicious  appearance  or  noise.  There  were  lights  in 
the  windows  of  the  dining-room,  and  Mrs.  Floyd's  chamber, 
and  from  the  open  kitchen-door  issued  a  stream  of  reddish 
light,  darkened  occasionally  by  a  moving  figure  within.  A 
slave  in  name  alone,  he  had  long  cherished  ambitious  dreams 
unknown  by  others,  divined  least  of  all  by  him  whom  he 
styled  "master."  By  dint  of  peculation  and  undisguised 
extortion,  he  had  amassed  a  larger  sum  than  was  possessed 
by  any  other  bondman  in  the  country  ;  treasured  it  secretly 
against  such  time  as  he  should  see  the  way  clear  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  darling  scheme — viz :  the  acquisition  of 
his  freedom ,  without  expending  one  cent  of  his  money  in 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS.  507 

its  purchase.  Now,  he  said  exultingly  to  himself,  was  the 
propitious  season !  His  master  a  fugitive  under  the  ban  of 
the  law,  the  hue  and  cry  of  the  neighborhood  directed  after 
him — himself  the  owner,  or  what,  in  his  ethics,  amounted  to 
the  same  thing — the  possessor  of  an  additional  sum,  sufficient 
to  carry  him  to  Canada,  if  he  wished  to  go  so  far — what 
remained  to  be  done  but  to  secure  his  hoard,  and  such  valua 
bles  as  he  could  lay  his  hands  upon,  and  flee  under  the  cover 
of  the  favoring  darkness  ? 

"  Whoa — there !"  said  a  deep  voice  at  his  very  ear,  and 
betwixt  him  and  the  kitchen  door  he  saw  the  dark  outline 
of  a  horseman  ; — before  he  could  realize  the  fact  of  the  ap 
parition,  he  felt  the  reins  snatched  from  him  on  the  other 
side ;  heard  the  trampling  of  hoofs  and  men's  feet  in  every 
direction,  while  murmurs  of  inquiry  and  consultation  were 
defined  into  a  simultaneous  exclamation  as  a  lantern  was 
unceremoniously  flashed  into  his  face. 

"  We've  caught  one  of  them,  at  all  events." 

He  had  not  expected  the  indulgence  of  sleep  that  night, 
but  neither  had  he  anticipated  lodgings  in  the  county  jail. 

It  was  not  often  that  Lily  was  allowed  the  privilege  of 
a  ride  without  the  attendance  of  her  aunt  or  one  of  her 
cousins,  but  this  morning  she  had  avowed  frankly  to  Mrs. 
Floyd  her  desire  to  visit  Helen  Lay,  and  asked  for  the  car 
riage  and  driver,  that  she  might  carry  her  plan  into  ex 
ecution  in  her  uncle's  absence. 

"  He  would  not  consent  to  it,  mamma,  and  you  disap 
prove  of  it,  I  know,  but  I  must  see  Helen !  I  feel  some 
times  as  if  I  must  die  unless  I  learn  something  which  she 
only  can  tell  me.  I  am  not  so  strong  as  I  used  to  be,  and 
things  worry — oppress  me  more  than  they  did  when  I  was 
well." 

Mrs.  Floyd's  heart  melted. 

"  My  dear  child !  I  would  do  any  thing  in  my  power  to 


508  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

make  you  happy — but  I  really  thought  that  you  and  Helen 
had  had  some  quarrel  about  the  time  she  was  married,  and 
not  been  on  good  terms  since." 

"  I  behaved  foolishly,  and,  I  believe,  was  altogether  in 
the  wrong,"  answered  Lily,  sadly.  "Helen  used  to  be  very 
kind  to  me.  I  think  she  cared  for  me  then.  Nobody  loves 
me  very  long!" 

This  pathetic  petition  it  was  that  emboldened  Mrs.  Floyd 
to  stay  her  husband's  departure  for  the  space  of  a  whole 
minute  and  a  quarter,  and  Lily  decided  to  avail  herself  of 
the  uncivil  permission  that  responded  to  the  request. 

Pitying  affection  was  Helen's  predominant  feeling  for  the 
erring,  cruelly  deceived  child,  yet  she  had  rather,  on  this 
particular  day,  have  seen  a  basilisk  creep  into  her  sunny 
parlor  than  Lily's  wasted  figure  glide  up  to  the  window 
where  she  and  Aunt  Ruth  sat  at  work ; — the  younger  lady 
pensive  and  abstracted,  yet  trying  to  appear  as  usual ;  the 
elder  mild  and  sedate,  quite  content  with  the  world  since 
she  had  witnessed  the  affectionate  parting  of  her  adopted 
children  after  their  early  breakfast,  and  learned  that  it  was 
Helen's  headache  that  made  her  so  pale  and  her  eyes  heavy 
— not  inward  disquiet — or  disappointed  love. 

"Yes!"  ejaculated  the  dear  old  creature,  dropping  her 
spectacles  upon  the  floor,  Lily's  entrance  having  occurred 
at  the  moment  when  she  was  resetting  them  for  some  super 
latively  fine  stitching  upon  a  collar  for  her  nephew. 

Lily  understood  the  "  particle"  as  well  as  Aleck  or  Robert 
could  have  done.  "  It  is  I,  Aunt  Ruth — not  my  ghost !" 

"  Lily !"  said  Helen,  rising  to  embrace  her,  "  dear  child ! 
how  long  it  is  since  we  have  seen  you !" 

"  I  know  it,  Nelly,  but  it  has  not  been  easy  for  me  to  get 
here  until  now.  I  have  longed  for  you  lately." 

Helen  seated  her  in  a  lounging-chair,  removed  her  muf- 
flings,  and  smoothed  the  pale  gold  hair,  gazing  on  the  altered 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  509 

lineaments  of  the  lately  happy,  thoughtless  girl,  with  an 
unspoken  heart-ache. 

Aunt  Ruth  picked  up  the  key-basket  and  trotted  out. 

"  Helen,"  said  Lily,  catching  both  her  hands,  and  speak 
ing  with  feverish  energy — "  now  that  we  are  by  ourselves, 
tell  me — have  you  heard  any  news  of  him — of  Robert  ?" 

Helen  shook  her  head  mournfully. 

"  Have  you  no  idea  where  he  is  ?  What  does  your  hus 
band  think  has  become  of  him  ?" 

"  He  has  a  variety  of  surmises,  Lily  dear.  It  would  do 
no  good  to  repeat  them — they  are  all  so  uncertain,  as  yet. 
We  are  both  much  distressed  at  his  continued  absence.  It 
seems  unaccountable,  and  he  was  not  apt  to  do  unreasonable 
things,"  rejoined  Helen,  commanding  her  looks  and  language 
to  the  best  of  her  power. 

"  Why  do  you  say  '  was  ?'  He  is  as  good  now  as  he  ever 
was.  I  have  faith  in  him,  although  all  the  world  may  blame 
him — faith  to  believe  that  he  would  do  nothing  dishonorable 
or  unkind.  Yet  his  silence  is  breaking  my  heart — breaking 
my  heart !" 

She  bowed  her  face  in  her  hands  with  a  sobbing,  plaintive 
cry  that  sounded  indeed  like  very  heart-break. 

Helen  took  her  in  her  arms  as  she  would  have  done  a 
child. 

"  Dear  Lily !  my  sweet  little  sister !  there  is  some  cause 
for  the  silence  that  we  cannot  now  understand — but  it  will 
be  explained  in  time.  I  have  all  confidence  in  Robert's 
excellence  and  honor — and  so  has  Aleck." 

"Then  you  don't  blame  him  ?"  Lily  smiled  faintly  through 
her 'tears. 

"  We  do  not  consider  that  he  was  in  fault  in  any  particu 
lar.  The  trouble  was,  according  to  our  belief,  that  he 
trusted  unwisely  and  was  betrayed — " 

"  Not  by  me !"  cried  Lily,  in  alarm.     "  My  great  sin  was 


510 


loving  him  too  well  and  envying  you  because  of  that  love. 
I  did  wrong  you  often  in  thought,  Helen !  There  were 
seasons  when  I  was  tempted  to  do  it ;  indeed,  of  many  little 
acts  of  spite  I  was  guilty ;  but  I  never  committed  any  overt 
deed  against  your  peace  until  the  day  you  were  married. 
Then  I  received  his  letter — and,  dizzy  with  the  hopes  it 
opened  up  to  me,  I  forgot  honor,  truth,  every  thing  except 
him  and  the  blessed  assurance  that  he  loved  me.  I  would 
have  gone  to  him,  but  my  uncle  overtook  me  on  the  way." 

"  I  know !"  said  Helen,  gently,  for  the  girl's  bright  eyes 
and  rapid  incoherence  of  speech  made  her  uneasy.  "  You 
need  not  enter  upon  a  vindication  of  yourself,  dear.  Let  by 
gones  be  bygones.  If  I  have  any  thing  to  forgive,  it  is  for 
given,  provided  you  forget  the  heart-burnings  and  misun 
derstandings  of  that  unhappy  time.  Let  us  keep  up  hope 
ful  hearts  for  the  future,  and  if  sorrow  should  come,  help 
one  another  to  bear  it." 

"  Only  a  glass  of  milk  punch,  dear  !"  cooed  Aunt  Ruth  at 
Lily's  right  ear,  "  with  an  egg  beaten  up  in  it  to  make  it 
nourishing !  You  ought  to  drink  one  every  morning  of  your 
life  at  this  season.  These  warm  days  are  debilitating." 

She  set  down  a  salver,  containing,  besides  the  glass  of 
punch,  a  plate  of  light  cakes,  and  a  saucer  of  calves'-foot 
jelly  with  cream  poured  over  it.  "To  make  it  more 
strengthening,"  she  represented. 

"Ah!  Aunt  Ruth!  you  were  always  a  sad  child-spoiler!" 
said  Lily,  with  a  flash  of  her  old  archness.  She  sipped  the 
creamy  foam  mantling  the  cordial.  "It  is  the  genuine 
old  receipt,  isn't  it  ?  Do  you  remember  how  often  you  came 
over  to  Belleview  to  make  it  for  me,  when  I  was  recovering 
from  the  measles  ?  and  how,  after  I  had  that  tedious  spell 
of  fever,  you  carried  me  off  by  main  force  to  Greenfield, 
and  kept  me  there  for  a  week,  cosseting  me  with  all  man 
ner  of  good  things  ?  I  couldn't  have  been  more  than  eight 


511 


years  old  then,  and  was  such  a  wee  thing  that  Robert  used 
to  draw  me  about  in  his  go-cart,  as  if  I  were  a  baby.  Aunty, 
it  would  have  been  a  happy  thing  for  me  if  I  had  died  of 
that  fever — don't  you  think  so  ?" 

Aunt  Ruth  looked  thunderstruck  at  this,  according  to 
her  principles,  impious  observation. 

"  Why,  my  love,"  she  commenced,  when  Helen  spoke  up 
cheerily. 

"  Nonsense,  little  one !  you  will  change  your  mind  when 
you  have  finished  your  luncheon.  You  need  something  to 
make  your  blood  rich  and  warm,  and  then  you  will  feel  no 
proneness  to  misanthropy." 

"  It  is  very  nice  to  be  here !"  murmured  Lily,  gratefully, 
obeying  the  injunction  to  refresh  herself  with  the  delicacies 
provided. 

"  And  here  you  shall  stay  for  one  while !"  said  Aunt  Ruth, 
energetically.  "  After  you  have  drunk  the  punch,  you  must 
come  with  me  to  my  room,  and  lie  down  until  dinner-time." 

"Oh !  I  dare  not  keep  the  horses  so  long !"  objected  Lily. 
"  Uncle  is  to  be  away  until  night,  it  is  true,  but  he  would  be 
angry  if  he  heard  that  Simon  had  lost  a  whole  day's  work." 

"  If  that  is  the  trouble,  we  will  send  him  home,  and  Helen 
or  I  will  ride  over  with  you  this  afternoon  in  our  carriage," 
persisted  Miss  Ruth,  never  doubting  Helen's  cordial  ac 
quiescence  in  the  arrangement,  and  bent  upon  affording  "  the 
poor  baby,"  as  she  pityingly  termed  Lily, — a  holiday — and 
trying  the  effect  of  an  abundance  of  "  nourishing"  food 
upon  the  wan  face  and  attenuated  frame. 

Lily  was  evidently  strongly  tempted.  "  Would  it  do, 
Helen?"  she  asked. 

"  You  are  the  proper  judge  of  that,  dear,"  said  Helen, 
very  kindly. 

She  dreaded  lest  any  display  of  her  opposition  to  the 
plan  should  be  attributed  by  Aunt  Ruth  or  Lily  to  an  indis- 


512 


position  to  entertain  her  cousin  in  her  own  house — yet 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  the  tidings  which  the  next  hour 
might  bring. 

Lily  took  in  the  manner,  more  than  the  matter  of  the 
reply,  and  deliberated  a  moment. 

u  I  will  stay,"  she  said.  "  It  may  be  an  age  before  I  have 
another  such  chance  of  happiness." 

"  Yes !"  said  Aunt  Ruth,  triumphantly,  without  in  the 
remotest  degree  assenting  to  the  sentiment  of  the  last  clause 
of  her  pet-child's  remark.  "  Now  when  you  have  given 
Simon  his  orders,  you  shall  go  and  see  what  a  beautiful  room 
Aleck  and  Helen  have  given  me.  There  is  a  nice,  soft 
lounge,  where  you  shall  lie,  and  I  will  tuck  you  up  snugly  for 
a  fine  nap.  The  punch  will  make  you  drowsy,  pretty  soon. 
That's  the  good  of  it." 

"  A  clear  case  of  involuntary  intoxication  !"  laughed  Lily. 
"  Then  I  suppose  I  had  better  use  my  limbs  while  I  have 
any  control  over  them — hadn't  I  ?"  and  she  went  to  confer 
with  Simon. 

The  lounge  justified  Aunt  Ruth's  recommendation,  and  so 
did  the  punch.  For  awhile,  Lily  lay  enveloped  in  the  soft 
shawls  Miss  Ruth  had  tucked  about  her  shoulders,  and 
watching  the  placid,  motherly  countenance,  whose  eyes, 
ever  and  anon,  strayed  from  her  work  to  herself,  in  tender 
solicitude.  There  was  a  clear  little  fire  upon  the  hearth, 
and  by  Aunt  Ruth's  footstool,  a  gray  cat,  sleek  and  sleepy ; 
the  clock  ticked  as  if  it  too  were  drowsy.  Lily  wondered 
whether  this  were  owing  to  some  peculiar  knack  which  Aunt 
Ruth  had  in  winding  it,  and,  amused  at  the  conceit,  sank 
into  a  slumber. 

She  seemed  to  have  slept  but  a  few  minutes  when  she 
awoke,  and  saw  that  she  was  alone  in  the  chamber.  The 
clock  said  that  her  "  fine  nap"  had  lasted  two  hours. 

"  Aunt  Ruth  has  gone  to  see  about  dinner,  I  suppose  !" 


513 


she  thought.  "  I  am  glad  she  didn't  stay  here  on  my  ac 
count.  Her  lounge  must  be  stuffed  with  poppies.  I  only 
wish  I  had  one  like  it  at  home !" 

She  sighed  at  the  recollection  of  the  many  sleepless  nights 
that  had  been  her  portion  for  weeks  past ;  drew  back  a  cur 
tain  that  she  might  have  more  light  for  her  toilette  ;  brushed 
her  hair ;  replaced  her  collar,  and  was  ready  to  rejoin  her 
friends.  There  was  an  empty  chair  just  outside  the  door — 
and,  lying  upon  the  seat,  an  unfinished  piece  of  knitting- 
work — a  coarse  blue  worsted  stocking. 

"  Isn't  that  like  Aunt  Ruth  ?  She  stationed  one  of  her 
maids  as  a  sentinel  to  prevent  my  slumbers  from  being  dis 
turbed,  and  the  poor  girl  grew  weary  with  waiting  for  me 
to  release  her.  No  wonder  !" 

She  went  down  a  flight  of  stairs  and  through  a  side-pas 
sage,  without  encountering  a  single  person.  In  her  igno 
rance  of  the  topography  of  the  house,  she  had  taken  a  private 
way,  one  seldom  used  except  by  the  servants  in  carrying 
wood,  water,  etc.,  to  the  several  rooms.  Then  she  reached 
a  porch — enclosed  on  three  sides  by  the  wings  and  central 
building,  and  on  the  fourth  by  Venetian  blinds  ;  and  amused 
at  her  mistake,  resolved  to  go  on  until  she  found  some  in 
habited  region,  unclosed  the  door  at  the  other  end  of  this 
recess,  and  found  herself  in  a  small,  dark  entry,  another 
door  just  ahead  of  her. 

This  series  of  contre-temps  Aunt  Ruth  and  Helen  had 
done  every  thing  that  seemed  necessary  to  prevent.  The 
maid  posted  at  the  chamber  door  had  strict  orders  to  remain 
there  until  Miss  Calvert  awoke,  and  then  to  conduct  her 
to  Mrs.  Lay's  own  room,  there  to  await  that  lady's  coming. 
But  the  girl,  who  had  her  share,  and  possibly  more,  of  Eve's 
foible,  had  been  seduced  into  a  short  absence.  To  do  her 
justice,  it  was  very  brief,  for  while  Lily  was  wandering  in 
the  by-ways  of  the  rambling  old  house,  her  janitor,  ignorant 
22* 


514 


of  the  prisoner's  flight,  was  sitting  in  the  chair  without 
Miss  Ruth's  apartment,  knitting  and  listening  dutifully  for 
any  sound  from  within.  The  parlor  and  main  hall  were 
peopled  with  gentlemen  who  would  inevitably  have  arrested 
Lily's  progress,  but  by  her  blunder — perhaps  we  should  say 
through  the  design  of  an  inscrutable  and  higher  Will  than 
that  of  short-sighted  mortals — she  had  avoided  all  these 
hindrances,  and  now  stood  at  the  outer  entrance  of  the 
library,  Mr.  Lay's  especial  study. 

Still  smiling  at  her  adventure,  Lily  laid  her  hand  upon 
the  lock,  and  went  in.  Her  motion  was  very  fairy-like  and 
noiseless,  and  her  approach  was  unheard  by  the  occupants 
of  the  room.  A  solemn  group  was  collected  there.  Aleck 
Lay,  his  features  settled  into  stern  anguish,  stood  with  one 
arm  upholding  the  drooping  form  of  his  wife,  who  wept 
upon  his  shoulder,  at  the  back  of  a  sofa  which  was  wheeled 
into  the  middle  of  the  apartment.  In  front  of  it  knelt  Aunt 
Ruth,  hands  clasped  as  if  in  prayer,  her  furrowed  cheeks 
bathed  in  tears,  and  eyes  steadfastly  bent  upon  the  visage 
of  him  who  was  stretched  upon  the  couch.  A  black  cloak — 
the  same  that  had  been  thrown  over  him  when  first  disin 
terred,  hid  the  earth-stained  garments — only  the  face  and 
bright  hair  were  exposed,  and  these,  Lily's  second  step  for 
ward  revealed  to  her  horrified  vision. 


COLONEL   FLOYD S    WABDS. 


515 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

ANOTHER  Christmas  Eve,  frosty  and  starry,  was  upon  the 
earth — and  through  the  fading  light  shed  from  the  lately 
crimsoned  West,  Aleck  Lay  rode  slowly  up  the  winding 
avenue  leading  to  his  home.  Greenfield  was  his  now,  also, 
but  he  preferred  a  continued  residence  in  the  house  to  which 
he  had  brought  his  bride,  one  year  before.  There  were 
associations  connected  with  the  paternal  mansion,  that  both 
he  and  Helen  felt  would  rest,  a  perpetual  moveless  shadow, 
upon  the  brightness  of  their  hearth-stone.  Very  rosy  and 
cheerful  looked  the  radiance  from  this  now,  through  the 
windows  of  the  old  place,  and  as  the  smile  of  cheer  and 
welcome  caught  his  musing  eye,  he  quickened  his  horse's 
gait. 

"  All  well,  Caesar  ?"  he  asked  of  the  man  who  held  the 
rein,  as  he  dismounted. 

"All  well,  sir!" 

Aleck  glanced  into  the  dining-room  in  passing,  and  spoke 
a  kind  word  of  greeting  to  the  plump  figure  attired  in 
black,  which,  knitting-work  in  hand,  was  overlooking  the 
movements  of  the  butler,  while  he  laid  the  snowy  damask 
table-cloth  for  supper. 

"  Helen  is  in  her  room,  I  suppose  ?"  he  added. 

"  Yes !"  and  to  her  chamber  he  proceeded  accordingly. 

She  had  heard  his  step  in  the  hall,  and  met  him  at  the 
door  with  a  smile  and  kiss  of  right  wifely  affection.  But 
the  smile  was  chastened  by  sadness  or  thought — a  slight 


516 


cloud  that  did  not  disappear  even  when  she  stood  with  him 
by  a  cradle  at  the  corner  of  the  hearth,  and  saw  him  stoop 
to  leave  a  kiss  upon  the  sleeping  face  of  his  first-born. 

"  How  are  you  feeling  to-night  ?"  he  asked,  fondly,  after 
they  were  seated,  her  hand  in  his. 

"I  am  very  well.  Aunt  Ruth  says  I  may  eat  my  Christ 
mas  dinner  with  the  rest  of  you,  to-morrow.  I  am  quite 
strong  again  now,  and  shall  be  more  cheerful  when  I  can  go 
about  the  house  as  usual, — especially  when  I  can  breathe 
the  outer  air." 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  to  take  your  old  place  to-morrow. 
It  will  brighten  greatly  the  gloom  that  must  always  recur 
upon  the  sad  anniversary — sad — inexpressibly  mournful  in 
the  recollection  of  one  event — while  it  commemorates  to  me 
another — that  has  proved  the  best  blessing,  the  richest  hap 
piness  of  my  life.  Joy  and  woe  have  flowed  closely  together, 
yet  in  divided  streams,  in  our  married  life,  darling  !" 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  it  as  I  sat  here  alone  in  the 
twilight,  and  reviewed  the  scenes  of  last  Christmas,"  said 
Helen,  a  tear  starting  in  her  eye.  "  Then,  my  anxiety  to 
hear  the  report  of  your  visit  of  this  afternoon  has  been  pain 
ful.  Was  the  interview  a  trying  one  to  you  ?" 

"  Are  you  well  enough  to  speak  of  these  things,  love  ? 
Had  we  not  better  postpone  the  discussion  to  another  day  ?" 

"  Not  on  my  account !  As  I  have  said,  the  anxiety  and 
uncertainty  do  me  more  harm  than  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
truth  could.  How  did  the  wretched  man  appear  ?" 

"  Like  what  you  have  called  him — wretched — miserable 
beyond  comparison !" 

"  And  penitent  ?"  interrogated  Helen. 

"  Not  in  the  least !  Not  that  he  does  not  express  re 
morse  for  the  deed,  but  it  is  palpably  sorrow  for  the  awful 
consequences  to  himself,  not  hatred  of  the  crime,  or  com 
passion  for  tho  grief  it  has  brought  upon  others.  I  went  to 


COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WAEDS.  517 

the  jail  at  his  summons,  prepared  to  grant  the  forgiveness 
which  I  supposed  he,  as  a  dying  man,  wished  to  entreat 
from  the  dearest  earthly  relatives  of  his  victim.  Instead  of 
humble  confession,  I  was  forced  to  listen  to  a  labored  ex 
tenuation  of  his  act,  and  an  appeal  to  my  sympathy  in  be 
half  of  himself, — '  a  man  in  the  prime  of  his  years — the  scion 
of  a  long  line  of  honored  ancestors,  condemned  to  perish 
ignominiously,'  as  he  said,  *  like  a  common  convict !'  r 

"  Incredible !  I  wonder  you  had  patience  to  hear  him  to 
the  end !" 

"  It  was  only  by  bearing  in  mind  that  in  three  days  more 
he  would  be  beyond  the  reach  of  human  approbation  or 
censure,  that  I  compelled  myself  to  remain  in  his  loathed 
presence.  He  was  very  free  in  his  communications.  The 
disappointment  of  his  preposterous  hope  that  a  petition  for 
his  pardon  would  be  presented  to  the  governor,  has  appar 
ently  taken  from  him  all  desire  for  concealment — so  far  as 
the  actions  of  his  Past  are  concerned.  I  imagined  that  he 
experienced  some  relief  in  the  horrible  recital, — I  am  posi 
tive  that  the  attempt  to  excuse  his  motives  for  the  commit 
tal  of  these  atrocities  brought  consolation — so  deplorably 
depraved  is  his  conscience.  That  his  forgery  of  Robert's 
name  was  not  his  first  essay  in  that  species  of  crime,  he 
avowed  with  infinite  coolness.  From  his  youth  the  facility 
with  which  he  could  imitate  any  manuscript  presented  to 
him,  had  been  a  mighty  temptation  to  him,  '  the  impulse  to 
employ  the  unfortunate  talent  for  some  practical  purpose,' — 
I  quote  his  exact  words — '  had  been  well-nigh  irresistible.' 
His  pecuniary  difficulties  had  proved  the  incentive  to  this 
1  error,'  in  every  instance, — and  he  rambled  off  into  an  in 
supportable  lamentation  over  the  mortifications  and  hardships 
to  which  these  had  subjected  him,  until  their  accumulation 
and  pressure  drove  him  almost  to  insanity.  Your  fortune 
was  imprudently  risked  in  speculations  that,  '  promising  in 


518 


their  commencement,  eventuated  unsuccessfully.'  That 
meant,  I  knew,  that  the  sacred  trust  had  been  squandered 
at  the  card-table,  and  I  told  him  this,  with  no  show  of 
passion  or  indignation — only  to  recall  him  to  the  facts  of  the 
matter.  Without  pretending  to  deny  this  statement,  he 
went  on  to  speak  of  his  embarrassment  in  view  of '  your 
marriage ;  his  hope  that  he  could  prevail  upon  Robert  to 
execute  a  contract  that,  by  appointing  your  former  guardian 
the  trustee  of  your  property,  would  allow  him  an  oppor 
tunity  to  retrieve  your  losses  before  the  deficiency  was  de 
tected  ;  at  any  rate,  prevent  the  institution  of  a  legal  process 
for  the  recovery  of  the  missing  amount.  Foiled  in  this — 
and  as  he '  accidentally  discovered' — unquestionably  referring 
to  the  conversation  he  basely  manoauvred  to  overhear,  that 
night,  at  the  spring — baffled  then,  as  he  learned  through  the 
instrumentality  of  your  influence  over  Robert,  he  devised 
sundry  other  expedients  for  averting  disgrace  and  ruin. 
Among  these,  was  his  endeavor  to  surprise  you  into  signing 
the  papers  he  presented  to  you  on  Christinas  Eve,  and  the 
manufacture  and  exhibition  to  you  of  the  letter  which  was, 
after  the  murder,  transmitted  to  Lily — in  order  to  delude 
her  into  the  idea  that  her  supposed  lover  had  left  his  home 
for  her  sake,  and,  through  her  attempt  to  fulfil  the  appoint 
ment  she  believed  he  had  made  for  her,  to  mislead  others 
from  the  real  track.  Finding  that  you  were  bent  upon  keep 
ing  your  promise  to  Robert,  and  disdained  even  to  examine 
the  proofs  of  your  betrothed's  perfidy  which  he  professed  to 
have  obtained,  he  resolved,  as  he  would  have  had  me  credit, 
upon  a  final  application  to  Robert  himself — a  statement  of  the 
real  condition  of  his  affairs,  and  an  appeal  to  his  generosity. 
"To  this  end  he  suppressed  your  letter  to  Greenfield, 
substituted  a  note  purporting  to  be  from  Lily,  asking  for  an 
interview  at  ten  o'clock — couched  in  language  he  was  assured 
Robert  could  not  read  unmoved.  Leaving  his  horse  in 


519 


Booker's  care,  at  some  distance  from  the  spot  designated  as 
the  place  of  meeting,  Colonel  Floyd  was  proceeding  on  foot 
towards  the  spruce  pine,  when  he  descried  Robert  mounted 
upon  Hero,  slowly  making  his  way  through  the  underbrush,  a 
little  way  ahead  of  him.  '  Like  a  flash  of  lightning,'  he  said, 
4  the  thought  seized  me  how  easily  I  could  rid  myself  of  the 
difficulties  that  hampered  me — avoid  the  humbling  revela 
tion,  and  abject  petition,  whose  anticipation  galled  my  proud 
soul  into  madness.  My  gun  was  in  my  hand,' — I  stopped 
him  there — I  could  not  hear  how  my  only  brother  was 
killed  like  a  dog — ay,  and  buried  like  one!  God  forgive 
me  !  but  I  could  have  murdered  him  as  he  told  the  tale !" 

He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 

"  God  forgive  him  /"  said  Helen,  by-and-by,  in  a  voice 
broken  by  weeping.  "If  ever  man  stood  in  need  of  the 
mercy  which  is  infinite,  he  does !" 

"  I  may  be  able  to  say  '  amen !'  some  day,"  replied  Aleck, 
resuming  his  former  tone  and  demeanor.  "  I  cannot  yet ! 
still  less  could  I  entertain  a  forgiving  thought,  while  I  saw 
his  unmoved  countenance;  heard  his  garbled  representa 
tions.  I  felt  as  certain  then,  that  he  had  deliberately  laid  in 
ambush  and  fired  upon  his  prey,  as  I  did  after  I  proved  this 
to  his  face,  thrust  the  lying  plea  of  manslaughter  down  the 
villain's  throat !" 

"  Dearest  husband,  remember  he  is,  as  you  said  just  now, 
a  dying  man.  He  will  soon  stand  before  his  Judge  and 
ours !"  interposed  the  wife,  softly  and  sweetly.  "  In  a  very 
short  time,  human  justice  will  have  its  full  course." 

"  My  angel  monitor  !"  Aleck  raised  her  hand  to  his  lips — 
"  I  have  never  needed  you  more,  my  precious  one,  than 
during  the  hour  I  spent  in  that  cell.  Think  how  hard  it 
was  for  me  to  learn  that  the  vile,  odious  letter  to  myself, 
that,  for  a  season,  seduced  me  into  the  conviction  that  one 
of  the  noblest  beings  Heaven  ever  created,  was  a  weak,  per- 


520  COLONEL  FLOYD'S  WARDS. 

jured  hypocrite,  unworthy  of  my  love  as  of  yours ;  that  this 
diabolical  composition  was  framed  and  committed  to  paper 
within  an  hour  after  the  murder  was  done !  He  actually 
penned  it,  sitting  at  Mr.  Willis's  private  desk,  Mr.  Willis 
being  in  the  outer  office,  while  he,  Floyd,  was  pretending  to 
await  the  coming  of  him  whose  life  he  had  taken !" 

"Oh!  horrible!"  cried  Helen,  shuddering.  "Was  his 
conscience  then  altogether  dead  ?" 

"  His  ruling  consideration  then  was  to  avert  suspicion ; 
to  account  to  the  community  for  the  disappearance  of  one 
whose  absence  must,  before  many  hours  elapsed,  excite  uni 
versal  surprise.  To  effect  this  purpose,  he  could  imitate, 
with  a  true  and  cunning  hand,  the  style  and  writing  of  our 
poor  brother,  append  his  name  to  the  letter,  and  devise  a 
plan  by  which  it  should  reach  me,  without  implicating  the 
author  in  the  remotest  degree.* 

"  His  account  of  the  concealment  of  the  body  in  the 
bushes,  and  Booker's  being  sent  off  with  Hero  to  the  free 
negro's  house,  as  well  as  the  large  bribe  paid  to  the  latter 
to  undertake  the  secret  service  required  of  him,  without 
asking  any  questions,  tallied  with  that  given  by  Booker  him 
self,  and  by  Jeff  Martin,  at  Booker's  trial.  He  alluded, 
likewise,  to  the  circumstance  of  the  seemingly  miraculous 
preservation  of  the  corpse  for  so  long  a  time,  which  was 
owing,  he  supposed,  to  its  having  been  nearly  or  quite 
frozen  when  it  was  interred.  But  to  these  details  I  could 
not  listen,  nor  shall  you." 

"You  said  that  you  convicted  him  of  premeditation  in 
what  he  did  ?"  said  Helen,  inquiringly. 

"  Yes  !  I  happened  to  mention  Booker's  confession.  His 
face  darkened  instantly. 

"  '  The  cowardly  knave  !'  he  said.  4  But  for  his  treachery, 
I  should  not  be  where  I  now  am.  He,  and  he  only,  could 

*  Fact. 


521 


have  put  the  officers  upon  my  track ;  for  no  one  else  knew 
my  route  or  destination.' 

"  You  are  mistaken,  Colonel  Floyd,  I  rejoined.  If  the 
negro  had  had  it  in  his  power  to  give  us  the  intelligence  we 
required,  we  need  not  have  consumed  months  in  the  search. 
A  few  days  would  have  sufficed  to  find  you  out  in  your 
hiding-place,  and  a  glance  would  have  penetrated  your  dis 
guise.  Do  your  instrument,  criminal  as  he  was — justice  • 
It  was  not  until  he  was  condemned  to  death  as  an  accessory 
in  the  murder,  and  had  taken  his  resolution  of  cheating  the 
gallows  by  self-destruction,  that  he  said  any  thing  with  re 
gard  to  your  share  in  the  deed.  Then,  I  allow,  he  spoke 
freely,  and,  I  believe,  truthfully.  He  was  cognizant  of 
several  things  that  you  have  not  admitted — as,  for  instance, 
the  letters  sent  to  the  post-office  in  Washington  and  Vicks- 
burg,  for  remailing  to  my  address. 

"  '  It  would  be  sheer  folly  for  me  to  deny  that  his  informa 
tion  was  correct  in  that  particular,'  he  remarked,  without  a 
sign  of  shame.  '  It  was  a  needful  stratagem,  Mr.  Lay. 
The  first  wrong  step  involved  the  necessity  of  the  rest.' 

"And  what  do  you  say,  I  proceeded,  to  another  part 
of  your  man's  evidence,  wherein  he  stoutly  affirmed  that 
although  he  knew  that  you  meditated  some  iniquitous 
measure,  he  was  not  aware  that  it  was  so  great  a  crime  as 
murder,  until  you  called  him  to  take  the  horse,  after  you 
had  killed  the  rider  ? 

"  '  It  was  a  lie — an  infamous  lie !'  he  exclaimed,  thrown 
off  his  guard  by  the  question.  'The  scoundrel  knew  what 
my  design  was  from  the  moment  I  summoned  him  to  ac 
company  me  to  the  woods.  Why,  if  he  had  received  no 
orders  to  that  effect,  did  he  leave  my  horse  and  hasten  to 
join  me,  so  soon  as  he  heard  my  gun  ?' 

"  The  report  of  the  gun  was  then  a  preconcerted  signal  ? 
I  inquired. 


522 


"'It  was!' 

"Recollecting  himself,  lie  stammered,  and  would  have 
added  something  else,  but  I  gave  him  no  time. 

"  Then,  sir,  I  said,  rising,  your  servant  went  into  eternity 
as  you  would  wish  to  do,  with  a  lie  -upon  his  tongue ! 
You  have  declared  to  me,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  that 
the  intention  of  shedding  innocent  blood  never  crossed  your 
mind  until  the  second  before  the  fatal  shot  was  fired.  What 
then  means  this  talk  of  a  previous  purpose,  and  mstructions 
to  your  accomplice  ?  I  believed,  when  my  agents  sought 
you  in  every  town  and  city  in  the  Union ;  when  I  urged 
them  incessantly  to  greater  diligence  by  promises  of  greater 
^rewards ;  when  I  gave  in  my  testimony  at  your  trial ;  when 
I  heard  the  verdict  of  the  jurors ;  when  I  came  here  to  listen 
to  your  dying  confession,  I  have  believed  always,  without  a 
second's  wavering,  that  you  murdered  foully,  in  cold  blood, 
with  malice  and  purpose  aforethought,  a  man  guiltless  of 
wrong  against  you  or  any  other  mortal,  and  I  go  away  more 
firmly  persuaded  than  ever  that  my  conclusion  was  just.  I 
can  stay  here  no  longer.  It  would  be  worse  than  useless,  for 
each  falsehood  makes  heavier  the  load  of  your  sin. 

"  *  One  question  more — but  one  instant !'  he  begged, 
catching  hold  of  me,  as  I  would  have  left  the  cell. 

"  I  could  not  help  tearing  myself  from  his  hold. 

"  I  will  hear  what  you  have  to  say,  I  said,  if  it  does 
not  relate  to  the  subject  of  which  we  have  been  speaking. 

"  c  It  does  not !'  he  assured  me.  '  I  wish  to  inquire  after 
my  niece,  who  has  been,  since  last  spring,  domesticated  in 
your  family — Miss  Calvert.  How  is  she  ?' 

"Her  bodily  health  is  good,  I  answered.  In  mind  she 
will  probably  never  be  better  than  she  is  now — a  mere 
child! 

"  i  The  physicians  regard  her  case  as  hopeless,  then,  do 
they?' 


523 


"  I  replied  in  the  affirmative. 

"  '  It  might  have  been  expected  !'  he  said,  with  no  more 
show  of  feeling  than  he  had  manifested  heretofore.  '  The 
circumstances  of  her  birth  were  peculiar,  and  without  doubt 
predisposed  her  to  this  malady.  She  is  harmless,  is  she  not?' 

"  She  is,  perfectly,  I  answered. 

"  '  But  idiotic— hey  ?' 

"Indignant  at  this  cool  questioning,  I  said  that  it  was 
rather  a  partial  failure  of  certain  powers  of  mind,  a  loss  of 
memory  upon  many  points  and  a  weakening  of  the  higher 
intellectual  faculties ;  repeating,  in  effect,  my  former  declara 
tion  that  she  was  now  a  child,  with  occasional  lapses  into  a 
gentle  melancholy,  more  painful  to  us  than  it  appeared  to  be 
to  her. 

"  I  cannot  but  consider  her  state  a  blessing  instead  of  an 
affliction,  I  concluded,  when  we  remember  the  events  that 
robbed  her  of  reason. 

"  '  Ah  !  she  was  predisposed  to  it !'  he  reiterated.  '  I 
always  dreaded  some  such  calamity  to  her.  Is  it  your  in 
tention,  may  I  ask,  Mr.  Lay,  to  continue  to  take  care  of  her 
— or  will  you  send  her  to  an  asylum  ?' 

"  Neither  my  wife  nor  myself  will  ever  consent  to  part 
with  her,  unless  her  health  should  require  a  change,  I  said. 
As  to  an  asylum — we  are  assured  by  the  best  medical 
authorities  upon  these  points,  that  no  beneficial  effects  to 
her  could  arise  from  her  residence  in  one. 

"  Desperately  hardened  as  I  knew  him  to  be,  I  was  not 
prepared  for  his  next  observation — 

"  c  You  may  not  be  aware,  Mr.  Lay,  that  my  niece  has  no 
property  of  her  own — that  she  will  be  a  great  expense  to 
you  ?' 

"That  does  not  alter  my  resolution,  sir!  I  replied 
haughtily. 

" 4  You  are  very  generous  !    I  thought  it  but  just  to  your- 


524 


self  that  you  should  be  notified  of  the  fact  of  her  poverty. 
My  sister,  Mrs.  Calvert,  left  some  little  money  and  a  few 
slaves  in  my  care,  but  I  regret  to  say,  that  my  own  failure 
has  swallowed  up  the  modest  provision  for  her  daughter's 
livelihood.  I  was  the  trustee  of  my  sister's  small  fortune — 
an  appointment  that  gave  her  husband  much  discontent, — 
and,  I  may  say  to  you,  Mr.  Lay,  was  productive  of  more 
than  one  quarrel  between  us.  Our  last  was  a  serious  one, 
and  to  him  very  disastrous !' 

"  He  checked  himself  with  the  same  expression  he  had 
worn  upon  perceiving  that  he  had  contradicted  himself,  a 
while  before — put  his  hand  to  his  head  and  tried  to  smile. 
Such  a  ghastly  grimace  as  it  was ! 

"  '  I  think  that  my  mind  wanders  slightly  sometimes,  Mr. 
Lay.  You  will  excuse  any  incoherence  or  strangeness  in 
my  language  or  behavior.  It  has  been  long  since  I  had 
occasion  to  refer  to  these  family  affairs,  and  the  mention 
naturally  agitates  me.  After  all,  what  was  done  so  many 
years  since,  in  the  heat  of  passion,  and  under  extreme  provo 
cation — we  were  both  fiery  tempered — what  was  done  then 
cannot  be  mended  now,  and  had  better  rest  in  oblivion.'  " 

"  He  must  be  deranged  !"  said  Helen,  wonderingly. 

"  You  would  have  thought  so,  had  you  seen  him  at  that 
instant,"  replied  her  husband.  "  In  another,  he  was  himself 
again  ;  desired  me  to  give  his  love  to  Lily  and  his  respects 
to  you.  *  Say  to  Lily,'  he  called  me  back  to  say — ;  that  I 
always  intended  to  provide  for  her  myself— if  only  as  some 
atonement — but  no !  perhaps  you  had  better  not  repeat  the 
message.  .She  might  not  understand  it.'  And  thus  we 
parted." 

"  May  I  come  in  ?"  A  silvery  voice  at  the  door  ended 
the  pause  that  succeeded  Aleck's  strange,  sad  story. 

"  Come  in,  dear !"  said  Helen,  brightening  up,  and  a  di 
minutive  figure  in  white  crept  forward  on  tiptoe. 


525 


Her  beautiful  hair  had  been  shorn  during  the  dangerous 
spell  of  brain-fever  that  had  attacked  her  ten  months  before, 
and  now  clustered  in  short,  golden  curls  about  her  colorless 
face.  Her  eyes  were  timid  and  soft,  like  those  of  a  shy  child, 
and  her  smile  infantine  in  simplicity  and  sweetness  of  ex 
pression.  She  had  taken  an  unconquerable  fancy  to  wear 
white  constantly  ever  since  her  illness,  and  her  kindly  guar 
dians  indulged  her  whim.  To-night  she  had  dressed  herself 
in  muslin,  and  binding  her  curls  was  a  wreath  of  holly-leaves 
and  berries.  A  knot  of  the  same  was  in  her  bosom. 

"  Good  evening,  Aleck !"  she  said,  putting  her  hand  con 
fidingly  in  his,  outstretched  with  an  air  of  brotherly  fond 
ness  he  could  not  have  shown  her  a  year  ago.  "  I  am  glad 
that  you  are  home  again.  Did  you  remember  that  it  was 
Christmas  Eve  ?" 

"  Remember  !"  thought  he,  with  an  inward  groan.  He 
smiled  pleasantly  at  the  querist.  "Is  that  the  reason  you 
have  made  yourself  so  fine  to-night,  Lily  ?" 

"  Yes !  Sally  got  the  holly  for  me,  for  I  thought  I  had 
heard  that  people  wore  it  on  Christmas  Eve.  It  looks  pretty, 
doesn't  it  ?" 

"  Very !"  replied  Helen,  cheerfully. 

Lily  surveyed  herself  in  the  mirror  with  unaffected  and 
guileless  complacency. 

"  And  to-morrow  night,  Sally  is  to  get  me  some  orange- 
buds.  I  made  her  promise,  if  you  had  no  objection,  Aleck. 
There  are  plenty  in  the  green-house." 

"  Why  should  I  object  ?"  asked  Aleck.  "  The  flowers  be 
long  to  you  and  Nelly  here,  not  to  me." 

"  Yes,  but  I  had  a  notion  that  you  did  not  like  orange- 
blossoms  ;  or  was  it  you,  Nelly  ?" 

"  Neither  of  us,  I  think,"  she  responded.  "  It  was  all  a 
'notion,'  little  one." 

"  It  makes  me  very  happy  to  hear  you  say  so,  for,  do  you 


526 

know,  I  wouldn't  miss  wearing  them  on  Christmas  night  on 
any  account,"  sinking  her  voice  to  a  mysterious  whisper. 
"  Who  was  it,  Nelly,  that  told  me  that  it  would  be  a  terrible 
thing  not  to  wear  orange-blossoms  on  Christmas  ?" 

"  Another  notion !"  Aleck  hastened  to  dispel  the  cloud 
of  perplexity  he  saw  gathering  upon  her  brow.  "  What 
have  you  in  your  hand,  Lily  ?" 

"  Oh !"  she  laughed  out  gleefully,  "  it  is  a  pair  of  new 
socks  for  baby.  I  knit  them  myself,  on  purpose  to  hang  in 
the  chimney-corner  to-night.  See  !" 

They  were  united  by  a  bow  of  blue  ribbon,  and  she  sus 
pended  them  upon  a  hook  at  the  left  of  the  fire-place,  directly 
above  the  cradle. 

Helen  laughed.  "  I  will  venture  to  say  that  no  younger 
gentleman  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  will  hang 
up  his  stockings  this  Christmas  Eve.  Why,  Lily,  he  is  but 
a  month  and  two  days  old !" 

"  He  understands  all  I  say  to  him !"  retorted  Lily,  tri- 
umplamtly  .  "  Look !  he  is  awake  !  Don't  you  see  that  he 
laughs  at  me !" 

The  little  arms  tossed  down  the  covering  that  bound 
them,  and  the  babe  actually  smiled  in  the  face  bowed  over 
his. 

"  He  knows  me  best !"  She  patted  the  tiny  face.  "  Lily's 
baby !  Lily's  pet !"  And  while  father  and  mother%ooked 
on  with  smiling  lips  and  moistened  eyes,  there  came  another 
name — breathed  in  accents  of  such  magical  sweetness  that 
one  might  hav^  thought  the  child-woman  had  learned  it 
from  angel  teachers. 

"LILY'S  ROBEET!" 

THE  END. 


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